Trainer's Bond
by tremor3258
Summary: Sorry it's been a while... there's more to Mount Moon's dangers than a bunch of Pokemon.... Ch. 6!
1. Licensing Procedures, pt. 1

The Trainer's Bond

  
  


Hydrophobia or

Licensing Procedures pt. 1

  
  


by Tremor3258

  
  


game continuity rules are in effect!

  
  


Pallet Town, like many of the built-up regions in the western areas on the Kanto continent, is basically a small village of a few hundred people. Due to the heavy Pokemon presence in the area, envorionmental considerations make build up difficult, and the western mountains and the forests to the north make large-scale commerce strenuous. For that matter, a large set of reefs plus seasonal storms makes it economically impossible to build a harbor. Thus, despite Pallet Town having a literally perfect position, by the sea no less, between the southern islands, Pokemon League headquarters and eastern major cities, trade goes through alternate routes, leaving Pallet Town a sleepy farm community, despite the fame it acquired after Ash Ketchum made Pokemon master. The fame had slowly faded after the next few years, returning the town to its apparently permanent small-time status, especially with Ash running around Indigo, and having possession of some of the strongest Pokemon based out of Kanto. The major change was that Pallet Town had upgraded to a full Pokemon Center, rather than private nursing.

  
  


Somewhat south of Pallet Town, Diana, an eleven year old girl, hobbled slowly towards the rough seas, supported by a walking stick held in her left hand. She had brown hair and brown eyes, and her olive skin was marred with series of white lines starting near her left ear and disappearing under her collar, as she wore a jacket and jeans to deal with the slight chill as autumn began to settle itself down around the area. Mentally she ticked off her position compared to the line experience had drawn to the maximum limit of Pokemon padding their way towards Pallet Town. 

  
  


The girl stopped to rest for a moment and look out at the sea. It was surprisingly peaceful for today, and she could just make out a few water Pokemon trainers who had the Surf TM out training. She shuddered at the thought, clutching the cane a little tighter. "Right, no time to be spent on might-have-beens. I only got a few hours out, anyway. Bulbasaur, Tangela, Pidgey, I choose you!" The three Pokemon appeared in small clouds of smoke from the Poke balls that had been attached to her belt.

  
  


Diana smiled in satisfaction. As often repeated to little children, the wilds of the area could be dangerous with Pokemon lunging for food stores. A few years ago, her older sister, Athena, (her parents had been on a classical kick for names) in the midst of training her Pokemon up, had taken her little sister to the seashore during a training event. Professor Oak had later calculated the odds of a Tentacruel, fleeing capture by a trainer, wandering up hurt and confused, at about 30,000 to 1. That didn't make it any easier. Diana had been struck by one of the Tentacruel's poison-tipped tentacles in the midst of Athena trying to deal with it, and then dragged under water. 

  
  


Athena had managed to capture the moderately powerful water/poison type after a long and desperate battle, but Diana had been hospitalized for a short time, and then physical therapy took a few months. The hospital had done a lot, but there was a limit to the repairs on physical scarring. The psychological scarring ran deeper, though. Since then, Diana couldn't stand to go near open water for any length of time, let along water Pokemon. Athena blamed herself and her lack of skills, and had headed off shortly thereafter to try and become a Master. Diana couldn't blame her for that, but her parents had taken Athena as abandoning her younger sister completely, and the rift between Athena and her parents had yet to be healed, so Diana had spent the last two years as an effective only child.

  
  


The only good thing that had come from it had been a present from Professor Oak. Diana smiled warmly at Bulbasaur, who was getting the worse edge of a tackle vs. gust battle from Pidgey. The good Professor was in position to be able to bend a few rules, and grant the invalidated Diana possession of a Pokemon a little earlier than the rules normally allowed. Bulbasaur had gone a long way toward encouraging Diana's recovery. The fact he was a grass Pokemon, and strong against water-types, did a bit for the psychological damage. 

  
  


Diana had decided soon after the therapists had decided they had recovered as much as they could in the hospital and released her that she wanted to try and become a Master. She took a lot of long walks, though usually near town, and noticed Bulbasaur was the happiest when he got to stretch his legs away from the city and at least do some shadow-boxing. For that matter, the next time something attack her, Diana wanted to be able to depend on her own talents as a trainer for protection. The idea of being sheltered, immobile and confined, like she had been in the hospital wasn't pleasant.

  
  


Once she reached eleven, and got her actual qualifications as a trainer, she began training Bulbasaur intensively in preparation for the Gym Challenge. Her parents were worried about their daughter going out, of course, but they didn't want to say anything about the kind of rough terrain she'd have to travel over, in fears of hurting her recovery. Staying close to home, Diana had acquired a friendly male Pidgey and a female Tangela. She was still looking for good nicknames for them. Their levels weren't anything to write home about, Bulbasaur had just gotten leach seed, but it was a start. 

  
  


She was going to leave at the end of the week, but until then, her parents were expecting her to help out on chores, but she had managed to get away for a few hours. Diana's lips quirked. The price to leave the house before the set departure date was that her late-model Pokegear was being held hostage until said departure date. 

  
  


Diana stirred from her reverie to notice Tangela had wandered into the taller grass and vanished from view. Diana quickly pulled herself together enough to go after the grass Pokemon before she ran into an older sibling of some sort and got into trouble. Diana noticed that Bulbasaur was slowly getting driven to bits, as Pidgey was fully capable of spinning past the worse of the plantamal's tackles, especially with his sand attack. Diana called out, "Remember that leech seed move, Bulbasaur?" Pidgey squawked in dismay as Bulbasaur turned towards the tiny bird with an evil expression in its eye. The salvo of tiny seeds spat from the plant Pokemon's bulb, ensnaring Pidgey and taking away some of its movement advantage and equalizing their damage levels as the seed sucked stamina. Bulbasaur quickly retracted it after the flying Pokemon conceded defeat in their mock battle, well, this time. 

  
  


Pidgey looked at his trainer in mild exasperation. While he was well cared for, and he was growing stronger, he worried for them. They had never gone into battle against other opponents before, and Diana couldn't coach both sides of a battle successfully. She usually stayed out of the way of mock battles and watched to get an idea of the capabilities of either side, as to not give an advantage. Pidgey slapped Bulbasaur lightly with a wing. He shouldn't have needed Diana's help for a move that obvious. Bulbasaur grumbled lightly in response: the two were old comrades in arms.

  
  


Diana cursed as the soft ground shifted below her slightly. Tangela wasn't the best trained Pokemon yet. She tended to get distracted by the other faint Tangela scents in this area and start to wander off. Plants tended to clump together. Tangela's wanderings wouldn't be a major problem, except the Pokemon had near perfect camouflage in tall grass. "Tangela: don't make me use the return command!" Diana threatened loudly. Tangela chittered in amusement. "Right, don't make threats you aren't planning to back up," muttered Diana, but the Pokemon had made an error: her laughter gave her position away.

  
  


Spotting the more bluish spot in the increasingly tan grass this time of year, Diana rose her cane over her head and brought it down on Tangela's body with a slow thud. As far as Diana had been able to tell, Tangela's body was mainly shock-absorbing vines, and only the grass Pokemon's pride was injured. Diana quickly mock-tackled the Pokemon. 

  
  


The timing of such proved to be a bad thing. The ground in the area was rocked by an explosion. Pidgey, without needing a word, leapt into the air, quickly squawking down what he saw. Diana didn't need it, as she spotted a large plume of smoke coming from near the water. It was already several hundred feet high and Diana could tell it was about thirty feet across at the base. "Pidgey, Bulbasaur, go down there and see if anyone was hurt!" Diana quickly commanded. The two Pokemon took off running. Tangela stuck close, a bit frightened.

  
  


Diana was worried too. There wasn't anything over there that should explode like that, and she had been watching the area only a few moments beforehand. For that matter, if there was something big and nasty down there, her Pokemon, who could do a decent job as a rescue crew, would be hard pressed to fight off anything. They were too young, and had really only begun her training. That was one reason Diana had kept Tangela with her. She wasn't quite tamed yet, and Diana though having someone in fullback position could help. Besides: Tangela was barely faster than Diana in this terrain.

  
  


The two made their way to the seashore in a few minutes. Diana paused at the edge of the sand and peered over the scene. The carbonized remnants of what had once been a small boat still sputtered in the middle of a small crater, set just below the sandy bluffs over-looking the beach. Judging by the furrow leading to the crater, Diana assumed the boat had been forced onto shore and rammed the center. Diana noticed her Pokemon standing about twenty meters back from the crater, wary of the flames, and crouched so that they faced the flames warily.

  
  


Diana shuddered a bit at the idea of what had happened to the pilots, and she started picking her way along the edge so that she could ask her Pokemon is they had sensed anything escape. Tangela walked along beside her, looking out for danger, as she was aware of her mistress's trembling, and the remaining sparks set Tangela's vines on edge.

  
  


Diana reached the bluff above two of her Pokemon in a few minutes, and waved to them. The Pokemon barely gave her a second glance, keeping focused on the flames. Tangela eased the young trainer's confusion by gesturing with a foot at the cliff. Dropping her cane down, Diana kneeled down and peered over the bluff edge curiously, before screaming in terror, and trying to jump back before her left leg gave out, leaving her sprawled out helpless.

  
  


"Oh, they are trained Pokemon. I thought it was strange that a Pidgey and a grass Pokemon would get along so well, but with Professor Oak's love of Bulbasaurs, who knows," said a male voice down the bluff. He sounded as if he was in a slight amount of pain. "I apologize for the problem with Snapdragon here, but relax, she won't hurt anyone."

  
  


"That's what you think," Diana muttered to herself, her breathing starting to calm down. Pidgey and Bulbasaur hadn't been staring at the fire, they had been staring at the injured Gyarados lying under the bluff. The shape of the cliff-face had obscured the coiled water Pokemon until Diana had peeked down to be literally face-to-face with a creature of nightmares.

  
  


"I would like to thank you for sending your Pokemon to help, and getting us above the water line. I waited a little too long to jump, and I misjudged the reef depth around her and injured my leg. Snapdragon didn't do too well against the Tentacools that live in this area. She's just up from Magikarp. We wouldn't have made it without help. My thanks," continued the male voice. Diana, meanwhile, concentrated on getting upright, glaring at her treacherous leg for giving out like that, and she walked back over to the side of bluff. Mentally braced, the sight of seeing the Pokemon only sent mild waves of revulsion through her, and she winced in rapport at the lines stitched into the side. She knew firsthand what the results of a squid's poison sting looked like, and judging by the muscle spasms around the wound, the Gyarados had been poisoned.

  
  


Diana felt a pang of worry for the Gyarados at that. If the trainer was in that bad shape, the Gyarados would probably haven't had a chance to be cured of poison, and the idea of just letting the poison burn itself out. "Tangela, can your wrap attack get me down there?" The squat Pokemon nodded once in agreement, and Diana quickly pulled an Antidote from a side pocket, as Tangela loosened itself, settings its vines into a loose swing. Diana carefully swung down, with Pidgey flying around to help keep things stable, and Bulbasaur as an emergency pillow.

  
  


Diana couldn't quite see the man, since she hadn't wanted to bother with trying to get into the sling and turn around, and could only see the rather rough ocean. Diana's eyes narrowed. She couldn't see the water Pokemon trainers out there now. Diana thought, Why do I get the feeling there's something everyone but me knows? 

  
  


The male voice, still sounding a bit pained, continued, "You definitely have some talents child, though one ice Pokemon could walk over the team I've seen so far," the man advised, "My name's Robert. Call me Bob, and pay no attention to the rambling coming from my mouth. It's keeping me awake." 

  
  


Diana smiled slightly as she reached ground level. Bracing herself, she started to turn around as Tangela retracted herself and was picked up by Pidgey. Pidgey, obviously, didn't have access to a fly HM yet, and so the main thing Pidgey did was help cushion Tangela's landing, though Tangela still rolled like a tumbleweed when Pidgey released the grass Pokemon. Antidote in hand, the young trainer turned around.

  
  


Bob yelled in panic once he saw Diana in profile.. Diana's eyes narrowed in hurt, and she shifted back around, thinking he had seen the scars. Most people didn't pay them any mind anymore in Pallet Town, but it was painful enough when people's eyes just widened in sympathy.

  
  


Bob, though, was trying to get to his feet in raw panic, but he couldn't keep his legs under him. Diana noticed a bloody gash was traced along one of his thighs, probably from the reefs, and the teenager had started to babble in panic, "Athena! I don't believe it! I got away from you; you lost!" Diana whirled in response to the statement, luckily remembering to be careful with her balance. Bob relaxed as she stepped forward, out of the light. "Oh good, you're not her. You're much shorter." 

  
  


Diana smiled in response, "You're the first person to make that comparison in a few years," she laughed lightly and tossed over an Antidote. "I'd use that if I were you. I recognize the results of poisoning." Diana gestured at Snapdragon. Bob blinked in confusion and looked at his injured leg. Diana shook her head, "I really can't do it. You know about the bond trains have with Pokemon that allows cohesion in battle?" Bob nodded. The bond wasn't very well understood, but people who had it made better trainers as their Pokemon would be willing to give more. Several of the gym badges had been designed to reinforce those, allowing trainers to more easily communicate with high-level Pokemon, with stronger wills. Diana continued, "Well, when it comes to water-types, I don't have one. Even in that condition, your Gyarados will treat me like a rival competing for the same space. Bulbasaur, can you help Bob over please? Spit out a leech seed." 

Bulbasaur moved into position, and launched a leech seed. The vines sprouted tightened themselves sufficiently to help bind the wound. Bob tested it, and found the makeshift bandaging serviceable. He quickly walked over and fed Gyarados the antidote, whose trembling stopped as she was able to rest. Bob looked at the welts and winced, before digging out his Pokegear and grabbing some potion from it, "These are probably going to scar."

  
  


"It's very likely, yes," said Diana. Bob turned and got a good look at her for the first time, winced once and went back to work. Soon, the bleeding had at least stopped, and Bob called the Pokemon back to its Poke ball. Diana had been holding questions back as long as there was an injured Pokemon to deal with, but now had to ask, "You mentioned someone named Athena?" 

  
  


Bob nodded absently, "Yes, she's a trainer I know. Very tough and determined. You look a lot like her. Especially with the scarring." Diana had been moving to help support the trainer, starting to hand over her walking stick, but dropped it in surprise, dropping the stick as well.

  
  


"What scarring? She didn't have any scarring when she left. Did she get hurt?" Diana demanded. Bob moaned in pain. The leech seed vines had snapped loose, as Bulbasaur hadn't been using them to drain and the plants had withered. Diana winced at the sight of the wound, and nodded to Bulbasaur, who reapplied the seed. Bob stood up painfully, and grabbed Diana before he fell down again. "Right, questions later. Pidgey, can you carry a note to Professor Oak for me?" Diana quickly wrote something, and tied it to Pidgey's leg. The tiny bird flapped off.

  
  


Bob had been peering over her shoulder, using her good side as support, and answered in a tired tone, "Hmm, no you can't be Athena. Her handwriting's a scrawl. That's practically calligraphy. Well, it looks like scarring. I think it's tattoos, because the skin isn't raised around them. I met Athena a year ago, and she just referred to them as her 'penance'. Why the interest? She hasn't completed the gym challenge yet. She is talented, but she's not especially well-known outside of a select group."

  
  


Diana explained simply, "She's my sister. We haven't heard from her for a few years. There was a training accident, and Athena and my parents don't speak together much. I'm kind of glad to know she's alive." Diana frowned, thinking back over the conversation in her mind, "She isn't with Team Rocket now, is she?" Bulbasaur growled at the name and Tangela chirped angrily.

  
  


Bob laughed out loud, "Oh please. She'd probably kill herself first. Actually, the last I saw of Athena was in Johto. She's wandering all over the place right now, looking for rare Pokemon. That, incidentally, is the reason I'm here. She and I together managed to liberate several rare low-level Pokemon from a Team Rocket base, and divided up the Poke balls without seeing what was inside. I suggested we farm them out to new trainers, but Athena wasn't too happy about letting something slip through her grasp, and challenged me to a battle. I won, but she was a bit impetuous in her timing, and the Rockets caught up. I managed to make my way to here, barely, and that's when you showed up. I think Athena is scattering the Pokemon and laying false trails right now in Johto. Frankly, it would have been the core of the new Rocket army, and it's lucky that Athena and I managed to stop them. Though your sister is not someone I want to cross, she's very honorable, and she'll hold herself to her promise until she can beat me."

  
  


Diana asked, "Why should I believe you?" Bulbasaur nodded in agreement. Bob grinned and pulled out his Pokegear, flipping through to an item. Diana blinked. It was something Pallet Town had become familiar with after Ash's win a few years back. "This can't be. This is a Pokemon Master certification! You beat the Elite Four?" 

  
  


Bob nodded smugly, "Yes, I was waiting to show that off, since I don't seem to be doing to well as a trainer. Sadly, Snapdragon's good, but she's only just managed to evolve. And she was the only water Pokemon I had available at the time, since I was working on raising her. I've always wanted a Gyarados, but Snapdragon wasn't quite ready to take on the seas around here. And I couldn't go to a Pokemon Center and replace her because the Rockets may have had tracks in Johto continent Pokemon Centers. They're far stronger over there than Giovanni ever managed here." 

  
  


Bob smiled, "I've always liked Kanto. Far more independent thinkers, and your cities are smaller and tied more loosely together. There's a lot more wilderness. That made it difficult for the Rockets to take over, and why one kid was able to topple them so easily." Diana swelled slightly with hometown pride.

  
  


"So, I was trying to get to Professor Oak, since he has the facilities to store them all," 

Bob continued, "But right now we REALLY need to get off the beach. I'm sure at least one of those swimmers was a Rocket, as the chance to take a high-level, Surf-equipped Pokemon heading from Cinnabar is too good to pass up. We're probably going to get company soon."

  
  


Diana offered, "Pidgey will get help from Pallet Town trainers. We don't have a gym, so most are fairly low level trainers who are just starting out, like me. Can we stop for a minute though? My side's on fire?" Bob agreed and looked over the girl critically, who seemed rung out and sweating, despite the cool weather.

  
  


"Now, I'm impressed with you're bond with the Pokemon, especially for one so young, but maybe you should consider taking a plane to Celadon and working in a gym. I'm not sure you've got the endurance for the job." Robert looked over the girl critically. Her clothing made it difficult to tell this time of year, but she didn't seem especially emaciated. Yet this tiny walk had exhausted her.

  
  


"Sorry, sir, but it's not exhaustion. I moved too fast, stretched the tissue. As long as I live, I'm NEVER teaching my Pokemon a poison attack," Diana repeated the vow she had made. Water Pokemon picked up on her fear of them and reacted badly, and Oak had tried to give her a water Pokemon originally to train to help get over it, but it hadn't wanted to come close to her in fear of hurting her. She had switched to water's weakness in response. While water Pokemon were useless because of events beyond her control, she wasn't willing to see other Pokemon end up like she did, and what control she did have meant she could avoid training poison techniques or Pokemon. It was better than blaming the Tentacruel irrationally, who Diana realized had probably been hurt and confused. She saved that for when it REALLY hurt.

  
  


"I can understand your reasoning. Still, that's a difficult vow to keep. Toxic is a really useful attack for a poison Pokemon to have," Bob's breath gushed out as he stepped wrong, "I should have gone into research after I was declared Master, but no, I had to start teaching young whippersnappers." 

"You're what, 15?" Diana asked in amusement.

  
  


"Quiet when your elders are rambling, dear," Bob said. The grass Pokemon rolled their eyes.

  
  


Bob suddenly stopped, nearly pitching Diana forward when she didn't stop at the same time. Bulbasaur growled for his mistress's sake. Bob shushed the Pokemon absently, and somewhat to Bulbasaur's surprise, he complied. Now that's real talent, Diana thought in admiration. If he was a master, Diana could understand why her sister would be learning from him. She wondered what was going on. Lousy time to try and catch a Pokemon. 

  
  


Then Diana heard it as well. It sounded like a helicopter was coming down with the distinctive sound of the blades slicing through the air. A black helicopter was soon visible, despite the dimming sunlight, by the reflections off its blade. The light also made the helicopter appear to be blood-stained, which wasn't helping Diana's mood any. Robert cursed, surprisingly fluently for one so young, and followed it up with a word he made sound like a curse, "Rockets!" The trainer quickly began patting his clothing down, and apparently found what he was looking for: a Poke ball. "Right, you hold onto this. It's the most valuable of the lot, and it'd be obvious if you were loaded down with Poke balls, so I want to make sure this one is safe for certain. You try and get out of the immediate area."

  
  


Diana looked at the helicopter critically, "There's probably more than one Rocket on board. I could keep them off you backs for you."

  
  


Bob shook his head, "Sorry, you look way too much like their alternate target. If they realize whose sister you are, they may try and make a hostage out of you. Go hide in the grass. Consider the Poke ball a present for saving my life." Seeing she still wasn't planning on moving, Bob tossed down a Poke ball. "Alakazam, use psychic to move them out of the way!" The spoon-wielding Pokemon, easily one of the most powerful non-legendary Pokemon in existence, unceremoniously heaved the trio into the air, and shoved them into a heap in the grass. Alakazam was well-trained, judging by the way their landing was feather-soft. To some others, it wasn't quite so soft.

  
  


"Sorry," Diana apologized to the Pidgey Bulbasaur had landed on. Pidgey squawked angrily and flapped out of the area before anything else would fall out of the sky on its head, which was a complete shift from the natural order of things, in its opinion. Luckily, only its pride was injured. Bulbasaurs weren't that hefty. Diana took this opportunity to look at the Poke ball, as if she could somehow see what was carried inside. If my parents let me have my Pokegear, I could scan the Poke ball, Diana thought, it must be something that could help out, even if it is low level. 

  
  


Bulbasaur prodded the small sphere eagerly, and Diana hissed, "Yeah, I want to too, but you don't get to be a Pokemon Master if you make bad decisions." Bulbasaur grumbled and sat down. Tangela, however, was taking this opportunity to try and lead the two to the safety of the Tangela nests in the area. Diana knew that the moving grass would probably be picked up as Tangela tramped around. Diana quickly held up two Poke balls. "Sorry guys, but we don't have time for this! Return!" The two were licked by the red beams and transferred to the Poke balls' storage dimension. 

  
  


"I'll say this for Goldenrod bases," muttered the pilot, "It does give us access to good equipment." The pilot had been following a tracer they had planted on Bob back quite a ways. The frantic reports over the emergency frequencies of a boat ramming onto shore had made them believe he may have been killed, but it was followed by even more frantic reports of a Gyarados in the area. The swimmers had quickly decided they had somewhere else they had to be, and also succeeded in slowing down rescue efforts a bit. The Rockets had planned to see if any Poke balls would be salvageable, but then the tracer had started moving again. And now, those brand-new, top of the line sensors had detected reports of Poke ball activity near the tracer. 

  
  


"Ok, you three, get down there and grab him, and search the area for anyone else! You only have a few minutes. Remember: we're a twenty minute walk from a Pokemon menagerie, and if someone notices our helicopter, they'll be unleashed," said the sub-commander to his goons. The three saluted, one nearly knocking himself out the door. The sub-commander rolled his eyes. Typical idiot Rockets. The Rockets accepted everyone, and they got a lot of people who didn't want an honest living. The Rockets also believed in survival of the fittest, so the idiots got trimmed out quickly when it came time for promotions. That still meant the able Rockets had to command the addled ones.

  
  


The four quickly jumped down from the copter from several feet in the air, as the copter needed to find a clear spot to land. Bob shook his head, "Haven't they realized who they're going up against yet?" the Master asked rhetorically. "Alakazam, if you'd be so kind." Suddenly, the Rockets found that the laws of gravity had been temporarily annulled, as they hung suspended in the air. The copter pilot shot up, not wanting to suffer the same fate in a machine loaded with jet fuel. 

  
  


The Rockets, to their credit, immediately tossed down a few Poke balls. The Rockets preferred immobilizing and draining attacks from poison Pokemon, but they kept a few normal types to deal with this sort of situations. Ratticates were fast and strong, a decent counter to psychic Pokemon, as they could match the foot speed and their powerful physical attacks were more than a match for the wimpy physiques of psychic-types. Considering the match wasn't quite under the rules yet, the four rushed forward. Alakazam had to drop his psychic hold to prevent himself from being shredded. The Rockets were now free to move.

  
  


Bob groaned inwardly even as he started to direct Alakazam against the four trainers. He figured he could win: he had four other high-levels as backup, including a Golem which was more than a match for the usual Rocket loadout. What worried him was that copter. He couldn't try and disable it with a battle raging, without the possibility of the copter crashing and contaminating the area with jet fuel. 

  
  


Diana stayed hidden. She knew that all three of her Pokemon probably couldn't deal with a single Ratticate, yet. I hope Pidgey made it to town and got some help. Then she felt a tickling at the back of her mind. Diana thought frantically, Pidgey, whatever you do, don't come down right by me! No good. Pidgey could sense his master, and eagerly floated down, squawking the news. Diana jumped up to pull it down, and hissed at Pidgey to be quiet.

  
  


Too late, as the copter pilot noticed that the four were losing, and needed to set down in a moderately good location. The grassy field had the advantage of being relatively level, and near the signal the helicopter had detected. True, there would be wild Pokemon in the area, but when you fly the friendly skies, you have opportunities to pick up Pokemon from a lot of areas. Mind you, they don't have the training they should, with flight training and everything, the pilot thought to himself. He sighed. The Rockets were willing to offer a lot more pay for piloting than legal authorities, but he had heard the Rockets valued strong Pokemon, but they kept going on grandiose schemes that prevented their members from doing a lot of Pokemon raising. 

  
  


Actually, it was a clever trick for the Rockets. The higher levels were those who had managed to cram in more training time, and thus they could keep the lower levels in line with greater power. And thus, the massive schemes kept the more foolish grunts distracted so that the higher levels could maintain their power. Few people ever realized the fact, and by the time Rockets did so, they were high up enough in the organization to ensure the scheme's continuance.

  
  


Diana tried to stay low as a dust cloud rose up due to the helicopter's landing. Diana couldn't see how Bob was doing, but considering how effortlessly the Alakazam had dealt with her, Diana assumed Bob was doing quite well. Diana wished she had her Pokegear. Most of her equipment was stored there, including the few Potions she had acquired. All she had carried were one or two Antidotes out to deal with the possibility of stumbling across angry Tangelas equipped with poison powder.

  
  


The pilot finished shutting down the plane and quickly stepped out, dropping a Poke ball casually. A Spearow flew out. "Troublemaker, see if you can spot anything suspicious from the air, will you?"

  
  


Diana knew they were in trouble, and doubted they would be able to even attack if Spearow managed to find them. "Let's save them the trouble, Pidgey! Sand attack!" Pidgey flapped its wings at ground level, quickly concealing the rather mean-looking bird and its trainer in a cloud of sand. Spearow and the pilot emerged, coughing and looking a bit ticked. Spearow reached over for a peck, but Pidgey was used to head on attacks, and quickly dodged, before applying its own quick attack. 

  
  


"Troublemaker can't get any hits in like this, and he's going to be worn down. Return!" the pilot called after a minute, "I'm impressed little girl. It's obvious you were put here to slow us down. Frankly, I'm wondering if you have a Spearow, the way you're torn up." I'll give the guy that much, he can turn what's usually an insult into a compliment, thought Diana.

  
  


"So, do you have anything else, or can I trash your copter now?" asked Diana hopefully. Her other two Pokemon were useless against flying types, and she was glad she had managed to maneuver Pidgey to combat a Pokemon that, level for level, was more than an even matchup. The pilot quickly tossed down another Poke ball.

  
  


"Sargasso! I choose you!" A Tentacool shot forth, looking a bit limp on dry land. Diana backup up a few steps and seemed to quiver. The pilot smiled, "Nothing against that huh? Give up now, and I won't have it attack you." 

  
  


Diana's eyes burned in fury, "Not this time! I'm ready for you Pidgey return! Bulbasaur, I choose you!" The pilot gulped. Tentacool was partly protected against grass, but then, Bulbasaur was partly protected against poison by its own makeup. And for that matter, the two seemed really angry. If only I had a chance to pick up a blizzard TM somewhere thought the pilot. Bulbasaur quickly spat out a leech seed. Tentacool responded by wrapping the Pokemon with its tentacles, but Bulbasaur's stamina was kept high by the leech seed, while Tentacool was gradually drained. 

  
  


"That's right Bulbasaur! Kick that slimy thing's butt!" Diana cheered on. She tried to ignore the loud voice telling her she was enjoying this too much for the time being. Gradually, Tentacool's many tresses slackened enough to allow Bulbasaur to ram the jellyfish with its body. The Tentacool started to scamper away, terrified even as more of its energy was sucked away.

  
  


The pilot quickly caught it up in a Poke ball, "I really wish I had the time to train these things. Still, time for my decent Pokemon! Terrier, go!" The dog Pokemon howled as it was released. Diana quickly recalled Bulbasaur. 

  
  


Let's see: Growlithe's are fast, tough, and have fire-based attacks. Judging by that Growlithe's coat and build, it's definitely in great shape. Bulbasaur could get maybe one hit in before he lost, and the leech seed would mean practically nothing in the long run against my neophytes. Diana was aware of the fact she was a bit of a bully in these situations, as proved against Tentacool, who had been overmatched. Looking at her opponent, there was no trace of that. He was calmly prepared to do his job, and she envied that. Still, she couldn't make out what was going on with Bob, but Diana couldn't let him be jumped from behind.

  
  


"I'm really sorry, but I don't see anything else I can do. I'll call you back if it's an obvious mismatch, but I don't have anything that can stand against a Growlithe.," she whispered, before tossing the mystery Poke ball out with a soft underhand grip. The Poke ball snapped open, and a rush of air displacement displayed the new Pokemon. It was blue, several feet long, and resembled a snake with a finned head. The pilot stared at in shock, and Diana joined in. 

  
  


"Dratini!" said the new Pokemon cheerfully. One of the super-rare dragon types, it seemed glad to be able to stretch. Terrier looked at the dragon quizzically. It obviously wasn't used to seeing this sort of opponent. Dratini looked at the Rocket a bit contemptuously, and then nodded confidently to Diana. It would fight. "You wouldn't happen to have a list of your attacks on you somewhere, would you?" Diana asked weakly. Dratini shook her head and quickly spoke, doing some pantomiming as well, but it fell to Diana like it was coming through a slightly smoky piece of glass. She could ALMOST get what was being said, and exactness counted a lot for these situations. Dratini curled up, and then moved straight up, and then acted like it was spitting something up.

  
  


"Okay, you're young. Let's see, attacks based on those characteristics..." while Diana mused, Growlithe attacked with his flamethrower. Dratini curled up and screeched as the flames passed. Diana knew dragons were strong against fire, but this wasn't a fight in this situation. "I'm glad you were willing to help out, but I can't DO anything here." Well, it's your own fault for getting your sick kicks in earlier, whispered something in her ear. Yeah, I know, can we please worry about living long enough for said guilt trip? Diana thought at her conscience. Dratini stared at Diana for a moment and shook her (where did that come from? Diana wondered) head (well, top portion of body, but you get the idea). Dratini stared at Growlithe for a moment. The two locked gazes, and Growlithe blinked, once.

  
  


It was all the opportunity Dratini needed to coil around Growlithe. Dratinis, even baby Dratini have excellent speed. The pilot recalled it with a grimace, and seemed ready to throw out another Pokemon, but three goons and one goon commander impacting the ground around him stopped him. Incredulously, the two combatants looked over to see Bob standing confidently with Kadabra by his side. "Well, you played by the rules in spite of yourself," said the pilot in admiration, pulling out a forfeit and tossing it over. "I saw that look in your eyes. If you had a gun in your hands at that point, you might have decided to shoot Tentacool."

  
  


Diana stuttered, "I don't think I'm like that."

  
  


"Not yet, anyway," said the pilot, "Word of advice kid: The past holds you, and you can learn from it, but you can't let it bind you. You know what your fears are, or you probably would have exhausted yourself against Tentacool futilely. Keep your head, and you'll do fine." With that, the pilot grabbed the other four and tossed them in, putting the copter up to full power. Diana just stood there, feeling drained.

With a mighty roar, the copter took off, quickly disappearing into the darkening night. Bob strode over as Diana wordlessly recalled Dratini, evidently a bit shaken by something. Bob couldn't blame her. The first battle was tough, especially the shock of that specially set up baby Dratini. "That was very good work, Diana. Considering the levels of the Pokemon involved, I couldn't have done better," Bob praised, clapping her on Diana's good shoulder.

  
  


Diana didn't answer, she simply fell, unresisting from the slight impact, and slumped on the ground, completely spent.

  
  


To be continued...

  
  
  
  


Author's note

  
  


Been a while since I've done Pokemon fanfiction (I wrote LOT three years ago, but you probably will never see it unless it goes through major editing, it wasn't very good). However, the Pokemon Adventure manga went a long way to rekindle my interest in the genre. Thus, I'll be using game continuity, as mentioned previously, with a few elements (how attacks are set, etc.) from the show. No Team Rocket giant Pikachu-fodder-of-the-week.

  
  


The sharp-eyed Pokemon trainer can guess what move Dratini (probably level 7-8, to match the others) is fitted with that matches the third pantomime. It'll show up next chapter or two.

  
  


Next time: Recovery, a new Rival, and the Journey Begins (maybe)


	2. Licensing Procedures, pt. 2

Trainer's bond

  
  


Cliques and social habits among young trainers,

  
  


Licensing Procedures, pt. 2

  
  


Note: effectively, game continuity 

  
  


Diana's eyes fluttered open, and she stared at the lights on her darkened ceiling with relief. She was back home, and she guessed they had won. Hearing her stir, Tangela and Bulbasaur, curled up on her bed, stood up and went over and licked her face. Pidgey was sleeping on a chair but quickly awakened. "All right. Robert got you all healed up," Diana said in relief, "How long have I been out?" She started counting Pokemon, relieved when she hit three, but then her sleep-fogged mind decided to remember recent events. She sat bolt up in bed, and Dratini, curled up into a foot-warmer, stirred slightly as the covers shifted under her. 

  
  


"Deadly Rocket-trained dragon, huh?" Diana teased. Dratini opened one eye sleepily and then closed it. "What time is it, anyway?" Diana asked to herself, quickly checking the clock. It was actually about four in the morning. Diana blinked in astonishment. She tried to get up early to get in training time before school (once the training journey started, she would be receiving assignments via e-mail), but this was ridiculous, especially considering how she vaguely remembered fainting. Now, she felt more rested than she usually did during the school year.

  
  


Noting someone had switched her over to a nightgown, she blearily put on some slippers and wandered over to the door in the darkness, her Pokemon swarming around her, though Pidgey had to peck at Dratini to get her moving. She padded down the hall, trusting her knowledge of her house to get her downstairs, as her parents were probably still asleep. She'd eat breakfast quickly and take advantage of the situation to get in some training time, as her Pokemon seemed pretty alert as well.

  
  


Diana sighed. Of course, she was the one who really needed the training. Her Pokemon had done well, even though if the fight had continued, she probably would have lost. But that was just a case of raw power shining through despite her delaying tactics. Getting praise from her opponent, even though they both know he could have won, was very heartening to the neophyte. Diana continued towards the stairwell, petting Tangela when she pushed under her hand, and then paused and frowned as the rest of the Rocket's speech came to her.

  
  


Intellectually, she knew what her problem was, and she tried, but water Pokemon tended to send spasms of pain shooting through her scars, and they always reacted badly to her. The Tentacool had frightened her, and Bulbasaur had picked up on that, and things could have gotten very ugly. "I wonder if I'm really ready for this, emotionally," Diana asked herself, and found she really couldn't answer.

  
  


When she finally tip-toed down the stairs, she was surprised to see light coming from the kitchen. Wondering what was going on, and as the fog of sleep lifted from her mind, she wondered why, if she fainted, she had been at home. Heading towards the kitchen stealthily, and waving Bulbasaur forward as a guard, she was surprised to hear her parents voice along with Roberts, and what sounded like an older person who was vaguely familiar.

  
  


The older voice started first, "I believe that Diana will make a full recovery. She suffered far more grievous wounds before, and it's possible the mental shock of the Tentacool, combined with what was a fairly surprising day, means she simply needs to sleep it off for a while."

  
  


Diana's mother said angrily, "Girls in my family don't simply 'sleep it off'. I think it's the Tentacool's fault. The last one injured her, and Athena's whole personality changed after the battle. Diana STILL doesn't know that the Athena she knew died that day, and it's probably the reason she's running around with the Pokemon anyway." Diana, still listening, exchanged surprised glances with Bulbasaur. By the time she'd left the hospital, Athena was long gone on her training journey, just leaving bitterness behind. She decided to risk getting in a little closer and see who the last person was.

  
  


Robert said in an interested tone, "I've worked with Athena for quite a while, and admittedly, she's very driven and aggressive, but what she said about her past suggested she was doing it for her family's sake somehow, but then she switched over to the League's counter-terrorism division following her failure to obtain the Marsh Badge." Diana was surprised. Athena had rarely failed at anything. With a few Pokemon of even lower levels than Diana, she had managed to capture the Tentacruel who nearly killed Athena's younger sister. Robert had implied she had blasted through the Gym Challenge before moving over to help stop Team Rocket in Johto. 

  
  


Diana's father said in a slightly grievous tone, "That would be my fault primarily. I trained her in the old tradition of my family. I didn't realize what effect it would have on one of her bloodline. It's a shame she left so suddenly, as well. There were some items I could have given her, and Diana, despite everything, is far too passive for them."

The older voice said, "Yes, that's right. Your family moved from Saffron a while ago, before the gym certification changed to the psychic's, right? The disciplines traditionally used by fighting trainers and psychic trainers are quite different. You didn't realize-" Diana, pushing against the door with four Pokemon. suddenly stumbled through, falling to the floor.

"Hi mom, hi dad!" she said with false cheerfulness. She levered herself cautiously to her feet, and said, "Hi Robert, thanks for saving me, and Professor Oak!" she said in a shocked tone. The famous researcher was sitting in her parents' kitchen, sipping a cup of tea. Diana had met him once, when he left some flowers and a Poke ball in her hospital room, but the Squirtle inside had wanted to help her, but both had felt some strange antagonism to the other, so Oak had sent a package with Bulbasaur inside. 

  
  


"Diana!" said her father with surprise, sweeping her into a hug. Diana's father, long ago, had been a trainer, but evidently hadn't made it past the previous master of Celadon's gym, prior to Erika taking over, and given up in defeat, farming out his Pokemon to other trainers. She had never heard of any special training techniques, and her parent's unease towards her becoming a trainer meant she was self-taught to a large degree, plus what she got from books. 

  
  


"You're finally awake!" he continued, "You've been out for two days. We were worried at first you had a poison relapse from that Tentacool, but the hospital said you were just exhausted." 

  
  


"Two days!" Diana said in surprise before her eyes widened joyfully, "It's almost the traditional time to start the journey then! The last freeze at this latitude is over!" Her Pokemon cheered behind her. Diana looked towards Robert and asked, "I heard you talk a little about Athena, does this mean she's coming to visit? And what's all this about special training techniques?" 

  
  


Diana's mother said, "Just some old strengthening exercises passed down through the family. Basically it's the old samurai style stuff of living a spartan lifestyle, going through mountains in shorts, that kind of thing." Diana's eyes narrowed. She wasn't sure if she could trust that or not, her mother was notoriously unreadable, and her mother had little interest in Pokemon even before Athena had left. 

  
  


Robert interrupted the uncomfortable scene, "Sorry, Diana. I've left some messages in usual drop-off points for Athena, but if she's still busy trying to hide the Pokemon, she may not hear about them for a while." Diana sagged slightly. If she hadn't heard by now, then there was no way to make it in two days all the way from Johto to Pallet Town. 

  
  


Professor Oak had drawn out a magnifying glass from somewhere, and was peering at Dratini, who stared back curiously, before attempting to take a bite out of the lens. "Dratini! That's not food," Diana looked apologetic, "Sorry. It's probably been a while since you've gotten fed, huh? Now, what do Dratinis eat?" 

  
  


"Seaweed and fish mainly, with a little grain on the side," replied Oak and Robert at the same time. The Pokemon master and researcher glared at each other for a moment before relenting. 

  
  


Diana went over and got some bread out, "Let me heat up some tofu, I think that's the best I can really do right now. The others tend to get by on fruit, seeds, and photosynthesis." Dratini shrugged agreeably and quickly devoured the bread, while the others hit the food she laid out afterwards quickly. "Did you guys remember to feed them at ALL while I was out?" Diana muttered, hoping to not be overheard.

  
  


Her mother heard anyway and replied, "They were pretty broken up with you not getting up. They just picked at whatever they gave them." 

  
  


Robert said, "You should be commended for getting so much loyalty so quickly. They like you quite a bit, and I don't know if I mentioned it, but that was a nice tactic set out there."

  
  


Diana blushed slightly, "I would have lost," she reminded him, "He had more Pokemon. If you hadn't come there, I don't know what would have happened." Diana's mother seemed ready for an outburst, but subsided with Diana's sober remarks.

  
  


"Well, as long as you're aware of how crazy what you did was," her mother sighed. "Now, I suppose sending you back to bed right now would be ludicrous. So, get dressed and do your work-outs, or whatever." Diana bowed slightly in response and grabbed another roll and stuffed it in her mouth as she limped only slightly out of the room.

  
  


"Ah, youth," Robert said with a grin. 

  
  


"Sure, laugh it up, kiddo," Diana's mother said darkly, "She's probably going to end up like Athena. Yes, she's powerful and does a lot of good, but there's SO much wasted potential." 

  
  


"Athena doesn't want to be a gym leader. She doesn't have the patience or the business skills the job demands," replied Robert. 

  
  


"She did, once," said Diana's mother, and left it at that.

  
  


***********************

  
  


Friday rolled around too quickly for the parents of the new trainers and far too slowly for everyone else involved, especially Diana. Nothing more had come out of her parents, and Diana could feel herself spiraling back down into depression, once more cut off from everyone. Something had happened, Robert thought it was fine, but he didn't know Athena, he just worked with her. Diana wanted to throttle her parents, but she doubted she'd get anything. So, instead she prepped for the journey like everyone else.

  
  


Many trainers wouldn't get past Viridian, the next city to the north and the traditional first goal for Pallet town trainers, the problems of the road dragging them down. Some would make it all the way to Indigo and beyond. For now, however, the sun was shining and the northern roads were certain to be clear. One could walk anywhere in Kanto for the next several months. A variety of Pokemon, bought or given by parents, along with those that Oak had chosen for his continued attempts to get more Pokedex information, had gathered near the north end of Pallet Town. Professor Oak wanted to say a few words before they left. 

  
  


Diana waited impatiently, and checked her gear once again. Robert, who wanted to see the new Pallet Town trainers, who, more or less were some of the best in the business, had mentioned she looked like she was out catching butterflies. Equipped with a sun hat, and moderately heavy jacket and jeans as it could still get cool, plus hiking boots for some additional protection, she definitely looked ready to safari. Right now, she was pulling on some fingerless gloves at her father's suggestion. The lack of fingers would help mobility while she could still shield her palms. Luckily her scarring didn't extend to her hands, as Diana doubted she would even be able to hold a Poke ball in that situation. Her backpack was loaded with food, camping supplies, and enough water purification gear to kill a squadron of Muk. Her walking stick was tied to the bottom of the backpack, ready to be pulled out.

  
  


"Diana! You're actually going through with it!" said a slightly younger male trainer. Brad was one of the youngest trainers this year, and hadn't even been walking when Ash won the championship. He had already joined a group with two other trainers in preparation for the journey. Diana had figured no one wanted to be hobbled by her, and simply kept aloof from the younger trainers. 

Flashbulbs were going off around them as parents proudly took pictures before Oak's speech. Especially since one of the Pokemon masters was in the area, and Robert was doing a good job circulating with the crowd, to the utter delight of the young children in attendance. And a few others, as well.

  
  


"I can't believe it!" a boy, older than Diana, and probably Robert's age, came running out of the crowd. "A Pokemon Master, and one of the League's top operatives! I've read your biography in the League computers!" The boy was wearing glasses, and Diana was surprised to see a few Poke balls hanging at his belt. The boy, however, was simply pumping Robert's hand up and down. With the same amazing energy, "And this is Athena! The person Team Rocket probably hates the most of any trainer. It's an honor," the boy paused and adjusted his glasses, "Wait a minute. You're too short to be Athena."

  
  


Diana said, "She's my sister. How much do you know about her?" Diana had to admit to being slightly impressed by the boy's energy. 

  
  


"I'm sorry, miss," said the boy, "I really should work on my manners. My name's John. I'm sorry I don't know a lot about you, but most of my information comes from recent research, and they didn't include family in the League database. I'm in training to be a researcher, and when I heard Oak was going to speak, I had to take passage here to Pallet to see it. I'm afraid all my information I can give comes from the League's public archives. There's quite a few of her anti-terrorism exploits, here in Kanto and on Johto that have been de-classified. Pretty impressive for a thirteen year old." 

  
  


"She's ON-LINE?" Diana said incredulously, "Is this why you're always busy on the computer, mom?" John started to back up. He wasn't good at relationships per se, but he knew enough to avoid getting into this. *Must change subject!* John thought to himself.

  
  


He examined the girl closely. Either the young girl was surprisingly lumpy on the sides of her waist, or "You have more than one Pokemon?" he exclaimed. "That's very impressive." 

  
  


Diana could feel herself blushing. Her Pokemon training wasn't brought up around the house, and most trainers either had a few Pokemon as pets or had left Pallet Town for other things. It was a nice place to raise a child, but it was as boring as watching paint dry around here! All the sudden attention, from enemies, from a Pokemon Master, and someone who seemed knowledgeable was almost too much. 

  
  


"N-not really. I've had Bulbasaur for a few months, and I've caught some locals, and one's a present. I haven't even managed to think up some nicknames yet," she said bashfully. She quickly hit the releases. Brad gaped at the Dratini. One of the rarest Pokemon in existence, no one knew everywhere they existed, but Diana must really know what she was doing. 

  
  


His next door neighbor had once been a nice quiet girl. Calmly and patiently waiting until the age of getting a Pokemon, and hanging around the older trainers like a wraith, picking up advice. Since her two year older sister was willing to put up with Diana as an audience, Diana had adored her older sister's attention, as their parents were usually working. Then the accident happened, and Diana had been withdrawn when she finally returned, barely able to walk. Especially as her sister had disappeared in the meanwhile halfway through her therapy, and Diana had simply cut herself off but for her Pokemon. 

  
  


But the sad thing was, it wasn't Diana's fault. She had come to school, ready to renew her old friendships, as she hadn't been able to take visitors through most of her therapy. However, everyone's suddenly fresh reactions to the new way that Diana looked, something she had come, barely, to accept, hurt her far worse than the Tentacruel had. After a few days, Diana stopped initiating conversation. It ached, sometimes, to see someone you knew for much of your life wall themselves up. 

  
  


Now, she had through careful quiet progress moved to the point of having a decent team established. Brad had only recently gotten Sandy, his female Sandshrew. Diana had more time to start her training, and evidently, she had received recommendation from person after person. But right now, she looked terribly vulnerable, easily as much as she had when she first returned home.

  
  


"Diana, are you sure you're okay? I'm sure you're up to this physically, but mentally it means leaving everything. I don't know if my group would take you, but do you want me to ask? I could always come with you?" Brad asked softly.

Brad's first question was exactly what Diana had been thinking over and over again, and it was just too much after the stress of the last week. Diana sat down, too quickly, as she felt her side burn, and then simply let the tears flow into her lap. "Brad, you're still one of the most empathic people I know," she said after a quiet moment, people hovering around her. "And this is very selfish of me, but you're the first person who's asked about MYSELF rather than the luck of being in the right place at the right time, or just because of who my sister is." John had the decency to look ashamed. Her Pokemon crowded around her, and Diana hated herself as she soaked up their worry for her.

  
  


John shook his head and pointed at the snuggling Pokemon, "I apologize for mistaking you, but if you must know, you have twice the number that Athena did, and my Magnemite and Meowth are all I have after a year." 

  
  


Diana looked up through tear-reddened eyes, and took a moment to try and realize it was an attempt at high praise to a trainer. "You really don't get out much, do you?" she asked. John blushed, and Diana quickly stammered an apology, finishing, "After all, I don't a lot either." Diana got uneasily to her feet, and for the first time John saw the left side of her face out from under the shadow of her hat. He didn't understand a lot of the empathy with Pokemon, as his simply worked with him to help take down samples for a quick study and then releasing them. However, he did understand poison wounds on humans, who were a bit slower to heal. 

  
  


"Oh. I understand the problem now. Please accept my deepest apologies if I've made a mockery of your situation," John bowed down to the ground, "I should have realized from the hints dropped. I'm not very good with people, unfortunately," John seemed to think this was a great confession, and Diana's mother laughed, until Pidgey glared at her. John continued relentlessly, "Is there someway I could make up for my faux pas?" 

  
  


"That's all right. You had no way of knowing," Diana said quietly, "And it's not like I advertise it. Brad? Why don't you, John, and I go over and meet your friends for a little while? My injuries haven't been acting up this morning, and I could use a warm-up for the hike today." The three moved out of earshot of Diana's parents. 

  
  


"John," she then whispered urgently, "It really isn't a problem. I know you were trying to make me feel better, but even if I'm not ready, I HAVE to get out of here. My parents just keep closing me in tighter and tighter, and it seems I can't even relate to them any more. Something's up. But if you want to make it up, I'd appreciate what you know about my sister."

  
  


"There's not much to tell. Served with distinction, and is almost a weapon that can be pointed at Rockets, utterly demolishing them no matter what the odds. The only thing you could call a blemish is that after stomping on every gym along the traditional pattern, Saffron City stopped her cold, and was practically her first recorded loss. She then joined the Pokemon League, and has been bringing in Rockets and others the League considers undesirable for the last year." 

  
  


"So, basically, she's just another good Pokemon trainer with a larger dose of luck than usual?" Brad said. 

  
  


John nodded, "Agreed. Except she keeps winning. The League throws problems they figure will only end in bloodbaths at her, and she succeeds brilliantly, with no casualties on either side. She's gotten some powerful Pokemon over the years, naturally, like most trainers who are at it for a while. The file photo isn't that good, probably to protect her, but you look a lot like her picture, especially since it's an older one." 

  
  


"Something's up with my parents, and I'm terrible at getting information out of them," Diana declared, and then shrugged, "Best thing, I guess, is to get out and get more information. I really don't know," she finished lamely.

  
  


"They say that the only real experience comes from going out an doing it," John said, 

"That's why I was coming up here. I thought I could see the gym's in action, and the more I could learn about Pokemon behavior patterns, especially under stiffer conditions, would do me a lot of good."

  
  


"You could SAY you wanted to bond closer with your Pokemon," Brad advised.

  
  


"Didn't I? I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. Still, after Professor Oak, I'm ready to move in the steps of the old great masters. I've done the research on common Pokemon in areas and the weakness and strength portions."

  
  


"Hmm. I only know about the local stuff, and a little bit about each gym specialty. I'm not quite sure what I wound find around the Safari Zone. How about you Diana?" asked Bard. 

  
  


"Sorry. I know something about each of the gym's, and I'm fairly good on the local landscape. I know where most of the local Pokemon nests but no, I'm not telling you where they are, Brad," Diana said in an amused tone. Brad snapped his fingers in mock exasperation. The trio quickly found Brad his group and spent a few moments in easy conversation over hiking trips as parents fussed.

  
  


Finally, Professor Oak came out of his house with a small speaker stack and a remote microphone. It took him holding the microphone up to the speaker and some painful feedback to get everyone's attention, but eventually he was able to start his remarks.

  
  


"Gathered trainers of Pallet and honored guests. Today is a very special day for the young trainers. Traditionally at this time, Pallet's gates were opened, allowing commerce with the North to resume. Now, of course, we can trade whenever we want. Instead, we send our youth out to gain knowledge and maturity. Remember, statistics show most trainers never complete the gym challenge, let alone Indigo. I know at your age, you believe statistics are other people. Keep to that belief, and you'll go far." Oak pulled a small pistol out of his pocket and raised it to the air, "With the power invested in me by the League Council, I now declare the restrictions on your licenses null and void, giving you full access to Kanto. Begin!" Oak fired off the starter-gun, sending a flare of light in the air.

  
  


Children began to head off, some running, others moving purposefully towards the North. "So it begins," said Robert, trying to be mystical as Oak came down the stage, but he instead merely ended up dodging a mock-punch from Oak. 

"A team, at least until Viridian?" Brad offered, looking at the two newcomers after the shot. It had turned out one of Brad's team members hadn't quite broken in his boots beforehand, so they'd be moving slowly so he wouldn't reduce his feet to hamburger. The researcher and the hydrophobe agreed, and they took their first steps on what would, hopefully, be a long trip.

  
  


To be continued...

  
  


Author's notes: This is the best ending place I could find for an 'episode'. I have some plans for next time, but I have to do a little more research. No battles or anything, just more character and introduction and a lot of stuff, I will, in time, construct a plot from.

  
  


I believe I stole Robert's last line from Kosh the First on Babylon Five. The idea of Oak intoning something profound could leave threatening overtones. A fifteen-year old is a bit different. ^_^

  
  


Next time: The track to Viridian, personnel decisions, and some old faces. 

  
  


Whenever I get it done!


	3. Thieves gone to ground

The Trainer's Bond

  
  


by Tremor3258

  
  


Thieves gone to ground

  
  


Note: effectively, game continuity, with a hint of Pokemon Adventures, in terms of mechanics over the anime. 

  
  


Disclaimer: Game Freak owns the game, Nintendo owns the hardware, and Creatures, Inc. owns most of the original Pokemon designs, or so I've been told. Please don't sue me.

"Viridian City:" quoted John, his nose in a paperback guide from his backpack, "The second smallest city to support a gym besides Pewter City. Based amid the rocky foothills leading up to the nearly impassable northwestern mountains, Viridian City has traditionally been the site for ground Pokemon. A pallor was cast upon the town several years ago, upon the discovery that the town's long-absent gym leader was also the leader of the notorious group of criminals known as Team Rocket, of which it hasn't quite worked out from under. Traditionally, Viridian is the last step on the Gym Challenge, due to its proximity to the Indigo Plateau. Thus, trainers can expect to face the Pokemon only one step before the gym's finest, which are typically reserved for defending the city in heavy combat, an event that hasn't occurred for over a hundred years."

  
  


"We know all that!" Brad said irritably, then softened slightly and said, "Well, except for the fact that the gym leaders are also the militia," he said reflectively. He was in too good a mood to be bothered by John's constant habit of referring to his stack of reference material upon seeing anything slightly out of the ordinary. A male Rattata and a very young male Pidgey, though they needed a lot of training, had joined his Sandshrew, Sandy. 

  
  


Diana didn't say anything. Considering she had four Pokemon, it would be impolite to catch anything when she was traveling with a group where most trainers only had one Pokemon. Most Pokemon saw trainers as the path towards better growth and care than the wild, and the battle was merely a quick test. Diana didn't see any need to further test herself besides the walk itself for now. The backpack had been a bit of a problem, and Diana was sure she'd have some aches tomorrow morning, but hopefully it wouldn't be more than she could stand.

  
  


She was pleased by how well she was holding up for now. Her side ached, but then she had been walking for several hours, along with finally getting down to serious training. All that conditioning seemed to have paid off, as the scar tissue had been stretched sufficiently by her rehabilitation that the only complaints were a sort of mild warmth. The real challenge would be the Viridian Forest, which was far more treacherous than the nice open, though uphill, ground from Pallet to its neighboring city.

  
  


The real problem was Brad's friend, Kent. He hadn't done a good job breaking in his boots and he was in agony at this point from where the boots had rubbed against his socks. John, Brad, and Brad's other friend, Tim, had alternated in supporting him, as Diana couldn't support any extra weight. Tangela had lent herself as a brace as part of her training, as the main thing she could learn was how to do more clever things with her vines until her spore sacs finished developing. 

  
  


Still, Pidgey's training was proving problematic. To teach Pidgey his more advanced flying maneuvers over the simple wing-based ones really required some work with a lure, and probably a few battles. Battles shouldn't prove too difficult to find in the future, but Diana wasn't sure falconry could be done with one arm. And even Pidgey's tiny claws would make things painful for her if she used the other arm as a rest. In response, Diana had been sending him after leaves, twigs, small crackers, anything that came to mind, but it was really a poor substitute. She doubted she'd be able to find any effective solutions in a town of ground trainers.

  
  


"You all look like something a Meowth dragged in," came a reasonably familiar voice as the group dragged themselves towards the city's gate, shaking Diana clear of her thoughts. bob stood by the city gates, next to a Pidgeotto. "Free advice: get a Fly HM as soon as possible and... Legends above, is he all right?" Bob, far removed from the trials of the first day, hadn't quite been able to distinguish a trainer who had been shocked by the enormity of the task, and one who was actually injured. 

  
  


The older boy quickly lent a much needed support to Kent, who was now trying not to cry, and moaned with relief when the weight was taken off his feet. Bob brought out his Alakazam, who canceled out the forces of gravity on the boy and carefully led him towards the Pokemon Center. The others followed behind, a cloud hanging over them. Bob merely looked apologetic, having been enjoying the game of annoying elder brother too much to spot the problem. "Athena is going to kill me for not paying more attention to what her sister was doing," he muttered, too quietly for anyone to hear but his Alakazam. 

  
  


Bob knew some basic first aid. Most trainers did who spent long periods of times in the woods. However, most of what you quickly pick up on in the rough world of Pokemon battling is what is a crippling injury and mainly an annoyance. While that knowledge is mainly related to Pokemon themselves (very few trainers can afford to carry the medical scanners that tournaments use to measure the health of a Pokemon) the biology of humanity isn't that difficult, especially with the crimson starting to soak through the boot's lining.

  
  


Diana probably noticed, as life-threatening injuries tend to make you pay more attention to the world around you, but she decided against saying anything, as panicking would probably make it worse. John was busy looking for hisfirst-aid manual, and Brad and Tim were busy hovering around Kent's head, not quite trusting of an Alakazam's power, having never seen a psychic type in action before. Alakazam would have been irritated if he could have spared the concentration from the delicate process of supporting a child without actually utilizing the full massive power of his psychic attack. 

  
  


The Pokemon Centers were far more than a simple set of Pokemon restorative machines for a nominal fee. That was just to get you into the doors. Basically, everything a trainer would need but Pokemon curative items could be bought here. Sleeping spaces were also available as a kind of youth hostel. The business done for warm beds and decent food more than made up for the loss that the healing machines operated at. 

  
  


More importantly, they also had a trained medical staff. Typically, their job was to drag off to bed any trainers who were exhausted but still ready to continue. However, there was also the darker side to training. Trainers sometimes got hurt, and more than one battle had been decided when the trainer fell, rather than the Pokemon. Trainers being literally carried in happened sometimes, even in generally peaceful places like Viridian. 

  
  


The ready medical staff were placed in the entrance near the waiting room. When Kent was carried in, they sprang into action, grabbing a stretcher as a matter of course. It took a moment for the doctor to make a diagnostic, and gauze pads were quickly applied along with a nutrient bath similar to basic Potions. 

  
  


The Pokemon Center was fairly quiet as Kent was carried in the back room to rest. Brad was verbally beating himself up, "I should have paid more attention! We had been planning to travel together for weeks, and I should have made sure he was doing some walking!" 

  
  


Tim added, "He's hurt already, and this was supposed to be the easiest part. We're doomed." 

  
  


John muttered, "He's already a statistic. Diana? Where are you going?" Diana didn't reply, but continued towards the door as fast as she was able. The group watched her go, looking rather surprised. 

  
  


John started after her, but Bob grabbed his shoulder. He attempted to twist out of the older boy's grip but stopped after Bob began speaking, "Let her go. I know her sister, and she really should have some time to come to grip with poor Kent." 

  
  


Brad knocked Bob's hand away from John's shoulder. "You know, for someone who's supposed to know so much, you really aren't that bright," Brad said scathingly, "I've known her for years, she's nothing like her sister." The two ran out, leaving Tim behind to shrug and go get his Pokemon healed. They were making a nice gesture, but Diana was in a different grade than him, and she kind of scared him, being quiet and rather weird looking. Besides, someone needed to stay behind with Kent.

  
  


Noble intentions stopped at the door when the two looked around in confusion. The Center was built purposefully near the edge of town, near the roads headed towards League Headquarters and towards Pallet Town. A giant forest full of poisonous insects didn't seem the best area to build a center for healing near. Thus, there weren't many houses near the outskirts of town. Despite this, Diana had managed to disappear into the mild afternoon foot traffic. "Bob has a Pidgeotto!" John said after a minute's rumination, "He can fly around town and find her." Nodding agreement, the two went inside to talk to the Master. 

  
  


*************

  
  


Diana wasn't aware that she was causing a stir back at the Pokemon Center. John's words were echoing through her mind. Diana knew that Kent wasn't in too bad shape. She'd seen a lot of people go through therapy and the hospital while she was in recovery, and in her amateur opinion, Kent would probably make a full recovery without even a scar. He would simply return to training a little wiser and more aware from the experience about some of the basic necessities of hiking. 

  
  


Kent would be fine, but everyone seemed to think this would be the end for his attempt to crack the Gym Challenge. If more experienced people believed one minor failure would end it, Diana didn't feel so good about her chances. She could try and ignore them all she wanted, but all she had to do was roll out of bed in the morning to become once more aware that the deck was stacked against her in succeeding in her venture. 

  
  


As if the mental torment wasn't enough, Diana's wanderings in her distraught state, combined with a few hours if hiking, had now left her trying to regain her breath. Cursing her weakened constitution, she slumped against the wall of a larger building. Shadows had started to gather as the sun lowered in the sky, and Diana idly wondered where she was. 

  
  


From a slight distance away, a boy, about Diana's height and wearing fairly typical young trainer attire: light jacket, jeans, gloves and a hat, studied her profile. "Cute girl in sights by the gym!" the trainer said cheerfully to himself, before noticing the Poke balls on her right side, "Even better: Cute *trainer* girl by the gym!"

  
  


"Excuse me," said a boy's voice near her, "If you're here to battle, the gym is closed until further notice." Diana blinked in astonishment and then looked up, shocked to see 'Viridian City Gym' printed in large letters on the side of the building. Diana started to apologize but was cut her off. "Oh, it's no big deal. Did you just come into town too? You look awfully worn out. My name is Alex. Gary knew this weekend is when Pallet Town disgorges all its trainers, and decided it would be a lot less stressful to go train against Cinnabar's fire types than to beat up a bunch of new trainers over and over again. Of course he doesn't want to SAY he's avoiding the area because losing a few early battles can easily demoralize a trainer,"said Alex in a conspiring whisper, before finishing brightly, "So, it's my job to make sure no one breaks the gym's windows or something. I didn't just want to sit around, so I went out west of town. There's a lot of poison Pokemon around, and so you can find a lot of plants with good curative properties. See?" Alex held out a small handful of berries, a few long branches of wood, presumably for wood shavings; and some leaves.

  
  


Diana giggled slightly at the junior trainer's antics. He did seem a bit rumpled, but if this was lowering his cheerfulness level, it wasn't immediately apparent. Diana quickly explained, "Actually, I'm one of those new trainers." Alex looked chagrined, but Diana didn't let that deter her, "Everyone's worried that someone I was traveling with would stop because of some injuries. I was wondering if I'm cut out for this, and ended up resting here." 

  
  


"What sort of injuries?" asked Alex. Diana quickly explained the blisters that had popped, and Alex winced slightly before continuing, "Painful, but really not bad. He'll be up and at them in no time. You can't let your defeats get you down! The difference between a Master and a wannabe is how you handle adversity. It was the first thing the gym taught me."

  
  


Alex's eyes started to get misty with remembrance, "When I wanted to study here, Gary set me up against a low-level Nidorino against my Rhyhorn. Rhyhorn came out fine, but I didn't." Alex pulled off some gloves to reveal a set of stitching that looked familiar to Diana from when she couldn't avoid looking in a mirror. Alex nodded at Diana's grim expression, and explained, "Caught the edge of a poison sting cloud. I'm lucky to have retained mobility. Gary is a really tough trainer. He expects as much out of you as he expects from himself, and he's cold. That's probably why he lost to Ash. He only has a 'business' relationship with his Pokemon. Still, he's very good at imparting his knowledge to others, and he seems to know better what your upper limit is than you do. I wanted to quit right there, but I stayed on just to shut him up, and it was worth it." 

  
  


Alex showed the few Poke balls he was carrying to Diana, who could dimly see a Rhyhorn, a Nidorina, and a Sandslash. "I'm from Fuchsia City originally, and so I'm kind of using a ground/poison mix to match what the local veldts have. I mean, I've caught more Pokemon," Alex said defensively and kind of by rote, "But these are my closest friends. Some day I'll go out and get the rest of the badges, but I still have a bit more to learn, like the secret to the fissure technique." 

  
  


Diana nodded in understanding. The powerful fissure technique was probably the ultimate ground technique, making a Pokemon unable to battle. Giovanni had not only managed to develop the technique, but create a TM capable of imparting the knowledge to Pokemon, back in the days before he founded Team Rocket. It was still the highly prized possession of the Viridian Gym. 

  
  


Feeling equitable, Diana quickly triggered the releases for her Poke balls. Unlike most trainers, who carried three to a side for easy weight distribution on their belt, Diana had a holder rigged up that put all six on one side, since in an emergency, her left arm might not have the speed necessary. Alex looked them over for a minute, "That's a nice selection if you're starting out. I'd like to know about the Dratini, of course." Alex took a moment to consult the sun's relation to the gym before saying, "Want to come inside and see the gym? Most of the Pokemon are gone for the weekend, but I'm sure you could pick up something." 

  
  


Diana shrugged, and spun off the wall on her good foot with practiced grace. Alex's breath caught in his throat for a minute, though more of surprise and maybe a little lust as opposed to other emotions. Alex had lived in the poison Pokemon capital of Kanto, and even Koga's daughter bore her share of scars. In Alex's adolescent mind, it only added to the allure, and helped put several pieces of Diana's personality in place. Most young trainers with a problem would be calling home. Instead, she had simply started working on the problem, and with Blue's training on self-dependence, that made her more attractive.

  
  


Still, Alex was smart enough to know he wasn't suave enough to risk opening his mouth right then, and instead Alex merely gestured for her to follow as he got the key to the gym out. Diana followed, wondering idly while Alex had started to blush without the usual look of pity or apology that followed someone seeing her scars. "Oh!" Diana whispered, "he's embarrassed for making what happened to him sound like a big deal." Diana nodded in approval at the idea. The junior trainer was trying very hard to sound experienced, impressive, and tough when he was the one Gary had left behind as a reflex defensive gesture when everyone else got to go to Cinnabar's hot springs. He obviously had been through a bit more than Diana, and was able to understand exactly what those sort of problems dealt with. Diana was smiling faintly as she removed her hat as she walked inside. Someone who simply accepted her as a whole was a welcome breath of fresh air over the other new people she had met across the week. 

  
  


***************

  
  


"Bob!" Brad whined, "I said we'd be going together until Viridian! Besides, I've seen her like this before. Since her accident, looking a bit morose, like she did as she left Pallet was exuberant! She's lived next to my house for years, and it hurt when she walled herself off since two years ago. Giving up now couldn't happen to a nicer person!" John stayed quiet. Brad had said at length what he had thought of John's comment in the last ten minutes of trying to convince Bob to lend them a Pidgeotto. 

"Listen," Bob said patiently for the third time, "Viridian's big enough that a search by air will take quite a while. And what if she's just picking up some sort of present for Kent? As you said, she is a nice person." Brad frowned thoughtfully at that and Bob continued, "Look, I know you're trying to act a lot like the leader of this group, but being leader means knowing when and when not to give people a swift mental kick to the pants!" Bob's Pokedex had started to ring during the final part of the conversation, and at the end he was yelling. Bob looked a bit abashed as the caretaker for the recovery machine and the on-duty nurse glared at him. Stiffly, he held the Pokegear close to his face.

  
  


"Hello!" he yelled into his phone before continuing in a more normal tone, "Athena, this is an unencrypted line," he warned without preamble. "Yes, I'm in Viridian. By the way, your sister probably saved my life the other day." Bob paused to listen for a few seconds before saying sharply, "I'll tell you a bit more about it when I can talk to you privately," the last word being said with additional emphasis. "Yes, I did give your sister the special one of the batch. Knowing you, I figure she could use it well." Bob listened for about a minute, before taking the phone away to stare at it before asking, "What does THAT mean?" Bob shook himself, "Listen. Never mind. Oh, um, you want to talk to her? I'll see if I can find her in the area. Of course I'm sure she's fine. Bye!" Bob closed up the Pokegear before starting to run outside, saying over his shoulder, "Come on! We're taking my Pokemon and searching the town for Diana." 

  
  


John grinned and adjusted his glasses, ready to find her and apologize, commenting to Brad, "Athena must be a VERY good leader. She's on a whole different continent and she knew when to 'kick' Bob." Brad snickered.

  
  


"I heard that!" Bob said grumpily. They hadn't heard all the conversation. Athena figured that Bob could take a few moments from his vitally important distribution duties (which were more or less finished, though Bob ignored that fact for the moment) in order to go and ensure that his partner's sister would not suffer any blows to her mental or physical health. After all, one of Diana's old dreams had been to be a trainer, and anything interfering with it now would suffer the 'goddess's' wrath. 

  
  


On top of the roof, a young man, wearing the black cap and bodysuit of the Rockets, complete with the R on the front, patted the small receiver he had used to listen in to the phone conversation. Robert was one of the bigger problems Team Rocket had. It was pure luck that the Rocket had been working freelance in the area and seen him fly overhead. He had been planning to steal some Pokemon from the gym while the leader was out of town, but capturing the person who had destroyed the creche AND knew where the Pokemon had gone would win great favor as well. For that matter, he had unwittingly disclosed a possible weakness of the feared and much-whispered about Athena. The Rocket followed the Master stealthily and slowly as his ready Pokemon were released to try and track down Diana. Alakazam, Snorlax, Electode, Scyther, Pidgeotto, and Gyarados spread out among the streets.

  
  


***************

  
  


"Thanks for the tour and dinner, Alex!" Diana said brightly. The boy's cheerful demeanor was downright infectious. Plus, Diana had seen some useful ideas she wanted to copy. Though the gym specialized in ground types, they did have a few of the types that ground were weak against to be able to highlight the problem areas. She didn't notice any stands or such in the area, which meant her ideas of what to train Pidgey were off. A lure alone would do just fine, which eased some of her worries. 

  
  


"Oh, it was really nothing," said Alex humbly, "It's not often that one finds interesting girls just ready for the taking on one's literal doorstep." Diana reached to tag him with her cane, but Alex was quite agile. "Besides, the gym's purpose is to help trainer's in need, and the badges are just part of that. A little advice is easy. In fact, you saw those berries I brought, right? They're usually used to cure Pokemon of poison, but if you mash them, they make a good salve to deal with poison wounds. The Fuchsia gym practically swears by the stuff, and since half of them look like they spent an hour inside a Muk, they know what they're talking about." Diana nodded her appreciative thanks. Folk remedies from trainers usually worked quite well, but they rarely reached the ears of professional medics. Alex didn't have a lot of berries, and most of the harvest had been necessary to create new Antidotes to keep the local stores equipped, but the juice of a few spread on her shoulder had brought instant, though not total, relief to the usual low-level burning sensation. 

  
  


Diana said, "Don't worry. I haven't felt this good in years. I really do owe you a few. I think I know where to start." While Alex was espousing noble sentiments, Diana leaned over and lightly kissed him on the cheek, which did an admirable job of stopping the near-nonsensical flow of noise. 

  
  


Sadly, the tender moment was broken when a large blue-scaled and finned head poked over the wall of a house near the gym. After a moment, its eyes focused on the pair, and shivering, it opened its mouth to charge for a hyper beam. 

It was the quick whine of an energy buildup that attracted the two's attention. "A wild Gyarados, here?" Alex said incredulously. "Oh man, Rhyhorn, go right now and horn drill!" With a quick puff of smoke, Rhyhorn went from miniaturized to a three foot, several hundred pound walking tank. Alex winced, he wasn't exactly carrying a load of Pokemon that were strongly effective against water types, especially as Viridian was far away from most water sources. Unfortunately, as Diana was obviously just starting out, that meant he was the only one with a chance against a Pokemon experienced enough to learn hyper beam. For that matter, her only decent water attackers were both grass types. Even advanced ones were too slow to keep up to an agile Gyarados.

  
  


Luckily, the Gyarados had chosen to try and vaporize them rather than a hydro pump, giving Alex a small opening. The energy washed over Rhyhorn, blinding his trainer temporarily. When the energy finally stopped, Rhyhorn growled, its hide super-heated by the energy, but basically intact. Gyarados, though catching its breath, slithered over the house, breaking off a few tiles, and hissing. Rhyhorn took this opportunity to do what its trainer intended, and charged forward, ready to stick its horn, which had started to spin, into a vulnerable spot. 

  
  


Alex and Diana were starting to suspect it wasn't wild when, though looking worn, it managed to scoot away from the horn drill in time to lose only a few scales to the charge, without any drop in health. As Rhyhorn skidded to a stop, raising sparks from the paved street, Gyarados launched a wave of water from its mouth, swamping Rhyhorn. When the water receded, Rhyhorn was on its side, moaning feebly. 

  
  


"That was a surf attack!" said Alex angrily. "Someone must be trying to attack the gym from hiding." Alex looked around angrily, and then looked at Gyarados, looking for a small receiver to get commands from a distance away, but saw nothing. 

  
  


"I'm not sure," said Diana in a soft tone, trying to keep her breathing under control. The fact she had backed up against the wall was providing some reassurance, "I know a trainer in town who has a Gyarados." 

  
  


Suddenly, a dust cloud surrounded the two on the street. As the two were coughing, they heard the distinctive inrush of air that meant a Pokemon had been recalled to its ball. "Damn Diana!" Bob cursed, forgetting he was around children, "You weren't kidding that water types have a problem with you." The dust settled, revealing John, Brad, and Bob standing next to Bob's Pidgeotto.

  
  


Alex started to stomp forward determinedly, as his heart started to slow down. Diana settled for a viperous glare, since stomping forward works better without a cane. Which of the two Bob recoiled from more was debatable. Alex pointed at his Rhyhorn before tapping a button on his older-style Pokedex, recalling his Pokemon to its ball as the ball moved of its own accord to his hand. 

  
  


"First off, what are you doing letting something like a Gyarados free in an inhabited area if the thing is uncontrollable? One dragon rage attack and these people would be lucky if the only thing that they lost were their low insurance premiums," Alex bellowed. Bob wilted under the glare. John wasn't looking much happier either. He had laughed at Brad's initial idea: quote, "You know, in the town of the ruthless gym masters, why not do as the locals do and let Gyarados run around until it spontaneously attacks something. Then we'll know Diana is there," unquote. Brad probably only suggested it as a joke, but since the idea came after forty-five minutes of fruitless searching, Bob had actually considered it. He had remembered Diana's strident warnings not to let his Snapdragon see her to prevent it from lashing out, and ran with it. 

  
  


As Alex drew in a breath to continue his onslaught against the guilty master, he was caught off as a cloud of gas emitted from two spots moved slowly down from the rooftop where Gyarados had been. A purple-black blur shot out of the cloud, hitting Bob in the stomach. Bob gasped for a second, and then sat down, looking ill. The gas cloud then surrounded the group, causing them to begin to cough. Diana let out a sharp yelp as a wave of pain climbed up her side. Alex confirmed it, "Poison gas attack, probably from two Pokemon!" 

  
  


"The Gyarados's activity proves you are my secondary target! And without the Pokemon, a child is just a child," declared a deep male voice on the rooftop. After a moment, the gas cloud twisted away, though the day wasn't very breezy. Alex and Diana were still on their feet, but the others were looking rather poisoned. 

  
  


A man in a Team Rocket uniform was standing next to a Drowzee and a Grimer. The Drowzee waved its hands again. Now that it could see its opponents, it took only a twist of psychic power to cause the Poke balls clipped to the various belts to fall off and float to the ground near the building. "That's three to a side," remarked the Rocket, "that should be all Drowzee." The small tapir-looking Pokemon nodded, and used its powers to float the Rocket and his two Pokemon down. 

  
  


"Learning that Gary likes to leave town on the weekend when Pallet Town begins its training season was a stroke of good fortune, but nowhere near as good as finding this 'master' here," said the Rocket triumphantly, looking through the Poke balls before holding one up. "Even better was finding out what he was guarding!" said the Rocket joyfully. Diana was willing to bet that was Dratini. "One of our special 'seed' Pokemon to get a new batch of Rockets started off." 

  
  


The Rocket nodded and Drowzee gestured, lifting up Bob and sending him through the air towards the Rocket. Bob floated limp and helpless due to the poison in his system. "Grimer's sludge attack was probably a bit too much for him here, on top of the gas. But I'm surprised to see you on your feet, Alex," the Rocket said conversationally. Alex looked surprised, but the Rocket continued, "Never doubt the information gathering abilities of Team Rocket! We knew all the trainers, and I came specially equipped for you. Luckily, Gyarados took the need of proving who this little girl was out of the picture. I was hoping poison attacks would still affect you, but you've obviously begun your training. Drowzee, disable please," the Rocket ordered.

  
  


"I wish I wasn't on my feet," muttered Diana, feeling nauseous, but reaching for her side quickly. Alex's salve had just proven its worth by apparently taking the bite off the poison attack, as he had been handling the berries all day and Diana had just used Alex's special remedy. Drowzee prepared for his next attack, dropping Bob roughly to the ground. Diana meanwhile, grabbed her fourth Poke ball, taking a precious moment to identify which Pokemon she had left before tossing the ball. "Tangela, bind!" As the words left her mouth, Diana stiffened into immobility, Drowzee disconnecting her from her motor functions. 

The ball, however, exploded outwards in a puff of smoke, leaving Tangela, looking angry, to jump forward from where the ball had impacted against the ground. Tangela seemed to shrunk as she sent her vines spiraling out around the Rocket, who merely nodded as they started to retract around him. "A cunning trick, that fourth, but you guessed assuming you'd be battling ground types. Grimer, sludge!" The mound of vileness spat out a small glob of toxic... something. Tangela screamed in pain and brought her vines in towards herself, one smoking furiously due to the poison inherent in the sludge. The Rocket laughed as Tangela stood defiantly but she looked a bit larger than usual due to the vines not being held in as tightly. "Looks like most of her health got used up right there," noted the Rocket. "Still, she got you time to get the other trainers to their feet." The Rocket had noted Alex quickly using some of his Antidotes to help John, Bob, and Brad be at least able to stand. 

  
  


"However, it means nothing in the long run. You now have no more Pokemon to protect you! Grimer, sludge Tangela again!" Tangela stood looking helpless, its trainer paralyzed behind it and she was grievously injured. As the sludge bolt came racing towards her, new determination lit her eyes and Tangela constricted the vines, letting a series of Poke balls pop from their hiding places. Tangela went tumbling backwards after this last maneuver, smoking from wherever the sludge hit. 

  
  


The Rocket's eyes were widened in amazement and he turned around, along with Drowzee, who was also surprised. Diana sighed as she was free to move. The Rocket, however, was rigid with shock as the Poke balls were missing behind him. 

  
  


"Tangela was aiming for the Poke balls!" John said in realization, "That's why it was looking so sagged, it was hiding them!" The Rocket turned to glare at the researcher, who blanched and said, "Right, um, Magnemite, go!" The hovering electric type glared with its single eye. Alex brought out Sandslash, and Bob led with Snorlax. John paused, and wondered, "I wonder how Diana trained Tangela to be able to recapture Poke balls. She wasn't able to give verbal commands." John shrugged.

  
  


Facing some lousy options, Grimer used acid armor on itself on command, causing the pavement to melt under its feet, hoping to have a better chance against types that were either immune or strong to it. Magnemite prepared to thundershock Drowzee, but Drowzee was faster on the draw, cutting off access to the hybrid Pokemon's electrical powers. Magnemite fell against the ground with a dull clang. 

  
  


"Sandslash, keep that Grimer busy!" Alex yelled. Sandslash chittered eagerly and started bounding forward.

  
  


"Snorlax, psychic against Grimer!" said Bob at the same time. Alex started to yell out orders to move Sandslash out of the way, but instead the ground Pokemon was picked up by the wave of energy, hurling it into the poisonous Pokemon. The combined kinetic energy of the spiny desert-dweller, along with the Psychic, sent Grimer hurtling against the wall and into dreamland. Sandslash, after blinking glassily, did the same. It was hard to say who was more shocked, the Rocket or Alex.

  
  


"Sorry, just throw out another Pokemon! Snorlax, mega punch!" Bob yelled, distracted. Drowzee would be a decent opponent, and it was entirely likely the Rocket had some bizarre stuff on him to deal with a ground gym, and his usual poisonous stuff would deal with Scyther, who would otherwise take out the psychic in front of him easily. 

  
  


Alex said in an urgent whisper, "The only thing left is a Nidorina, and I'm not trusting that out of its Poke ball as long as you're around!" Bob winced. 

  
  


Drowzee, however, lived up to its name by using Hypnosis on command. Against the usually sleepy Snorlax, this attack was as effective as a match in the gasoline refinery at getting impressive results. Snorlax hit the ground like the multi-ton mattress it was. 

  
  


Diana had finished dealing with Tangela's immediate injuries, and had sorted out her Poke balls. "Brad, use your Pidgey too! Pidgey, fly up and tell me how many Poke balls he has on him!" The two Pidgeys floated up to either side, and quickly hooted a return. Counting the downed Grimer, there were three Poke balls on his belt, meaning two more opponents, if the Rocket didn't simply cut his losses soon. 

  
  


"Come down from there!" ordered the Rocket, "Drowzee, take them out." Drowzee switched its attention again. Magnemite blinked its large eye and floated in the air as the disable was released. 

  
  


Brad simply recalled his as Drowzee started to prepare an energy bolt and tried to think, while Diana chanted repeatedly out the old standby maneuver for the small birds, "Sand attack!" Pidgey dove back towards the ground and flapped up a cloud of dust. The grains got in Drowzee's long snout, distracting it sufficiently that it wasn't able to reach out and simply shut down the small flyer's mind. Pidgey flapped back up overhead, looking for the psychic type. 

  
  


"We need an effective strategy. Magnemite, thundershock Drowzee!" Magnemite tried, but the sand picked up the ionized charge and spread it out. Drowzee was mildly tingled. However, Snorlax was able to get back to his feet after the electric wake-up call. Pidgey was above the cloud, but the light sparks were enough to jolt its wings. At his low level, Pidgey was unable to retain enough presence of mind to keep them working and the lightning seized up the joints. Diana quickly recalled the poor little thing.

  
  


Bob called out, "Let the big bruisers fight! Your levels are too low to help out much. Snorlax, take them out!" Snorlax punched down at Drowzee, who scooted away upon hearing the large Pokemon's footsteps, leaving Snorlax to dig a half-foot deep hole from the sheer force. Shrapnel flew everywhere. Drowzee stumbled back, small cuts all over its body. "Heh. When it comes to brute force, Snorlax is THE brute." 

  
  


Brad nodded, and then looked at the cloud of sand that had slowed down Snorlax. "Pidgey's sand cloud is blocking Snorlax from hitting. We need to get rid of it!" 

  
  


Alex said, "Think first! Bob is at the point where he can use brute force successfully, though I'm not sure HOW he got to that point, but look at the collateral damage. Without the sand, Drowzee would be able to paralyze Snorlax and take him apart. We need to get Drowzee to the edge of the cloud, so its still bothered by the sand getting in its nose, but Snorlax can wander around and finish it off." 

  
  


"Easy," said Diana sadly, "I mean, everyone is targeting this poor girl anyway." Diana held out a Poke ball before dropping it lightly against the ground. "Dratini, head out and use your dragonbreath so you can attack from outside of the remnants of that sand cloud," said Diana authoritatively, looking at John and Alex for approval. John started to calculate probabilities in his head, while Alex gave a thumb's up. After a moment, John nodded in agreement. There probably was a better plan, but she had only a few seconds to think of it. If those kind of instincts ran in her family, then no wonder her older sister was a terror. 

  
  


Dratini slithered forward. It was debatable whether or not the mystic Pokemon was touching the ground, or hovering a millimeter or so off of it. From outside the sand cloud, the hazy shapes of Pokemon were easy to make out. Inside, the sand got into eyes and soft nasal tissues, making it difficult to see anything through the tears that sprang up. With a tiny Drowzee, a medium-sized Rocket, and a large Snorlax, it was easy to distinguish what was going on, and Dratini launched several bolts of blue energy, where they slammed against Drowzee into a torrent of bolts that looked like miniaturized lightning. Compared to an elusive Snorlax where Drowzee had to spend as much time trying to stay out of close-combat range as trying to focus together for an attack, Dratini seemed like a winning proposition. The Pokemon rationalized it as what their master was after anyway. 

  
  


Drowzee stumbled out of the cloud sneezing, and Dratini was happily willing to try for the commanded wrap attack, but Drowzee had cleared most of the sand, and with an irritated gesture, slammed Dratini against the wall of the gym. Heavily reinforced to deal with massive ground types, there was no mark left despite the massive force from where Dratini's head had whiplashed against the wall. Diana groaned in sympathy, and Brad slammed a fist against her side to prevent her from running into the line of fire. 

  
  


Diana collapsed like a tree falling, and Brad quickly punched the return button on the Poke ball, putting Dratini in stasis, which made more sense than Diane making a large dramatic scene. "What, it was the best way to stop her from getting hurt," Brad claimed at Alex and John's looks.

  
  


"You HIT her!" exclaimed John in shock. Brad stared back blankly. Of course he had hit her. 

  
  


"Um, guys. Hormone clashes over girl later? Remember the Pokemon battle that was going on?" Bob said. Diana coughed and looked at him angrily. "We need to win this thing. Come on, let's hit him hard!" Bob encouraged, dragging Brad's attention back.

  
  


"Drowzee! Good initiative!" called the Rocket, who had left the cloud after hearing Dratini's cry, thinking along the same lines as his psychic. "Now that Pidgey's gone, we can finish off Snorlax!" 

  
  


Brad thought for a moment, wondering how to 'hit him hard'. The Rocket had come equipped to deal a lot of ground types, but even a weak Magnemite was deadly dangerous to a flyer, so if there were any of those, they would remain safely in their Poke balls. Drowzee could withstand anything Magnemite could throw out, as the Magnemite's level wasn't high enough for a thunder wave, and the odds were against that. So, Snorlax would have a lot of trouble catching the Pokemon. Bard had done some study on the Dragonbreath technique after hearing all the commotion about it, and had hoped it would end up paralyzing Drowzee, but the odds hadn't worked in their favor there. Alex was still too shocked to do anything, and John was busy giving suggestions for keeping Magnemite upright, wishing he had taught it supersonic. All Snorlax needed to do was land an attack, and then it would be over. Some sort of surprise would be good, but despite the quick refusal to go after the dragon, Drowzee was very well disciplined for a Rocket Pokemon. Then Brad's eyes lit up with a decision.

  
  


"Sandy, go get that Rocket!" called Brad. Bob shrugged, but Diana and John looked aghast. Credit in real matches was awarded when the Pokemon fell. In Bob's line of work, taking out the trainer worked better. Alex was neutral on the subject, as Gary recommended it for some situations, but he felt it wasn't sporting.

  
  


The Rocket didn't have a lot of time to think. A Sandshrew was coming at him, and though the claws weren't nearly as bad as on a high-level one, they could still do some damage. There wasn't a lot of time to evade, and his last two weren't good against electricity. He needed something with the hit points to take the first hit. "Kingler, go!" Sandshrew flew into the puff of smoke where the Pokemon would emerge from, and then bounced backwards off the hard chitin of the Kingler. The Kingler snorted and blew a few bubbles down at it, knocking it out. 

  
  


Diana bit back a curse as Kingler's eyes found her as it looked on either side of Drowzee, and the Pokemon's expression filled with revulsion. The Rocket hadn't noticed yet, with the water type's back to him. "Great work, Kingler! Now, quick! Let's risk a Guillotine against that Snorlax, and then Drowzee can take out that Magnemite, and we can leave," encouraged the trainer. Kingler only heard 'Guillotine', and rushed forward, large claw open. Despite the fact the Pokemon in front was probably a good companion, as the Rocket seemed to have a good relationship with his Pokemon, Kingler attacked it as it got in its way. Caught off guard, Drowzee was snapped up by the neck in a claw, and only dropped when Drowzee's air had been caught off long enough to knock it out. Everyone was paused for a moment, then Kingler scuttled forward towards Diana. Snorlax blinked a few times, and then stomped after it, but Snorlaxes have lousy overland speed. 

  
  


John was shaken from his torpor when Drowzee was thrown to the side. "Thundershock for all you're worth, Magnemite!" Magnemite's magnets crackled with energy, sending zap after zap into Kingler. Kingler didn't notice, continuing forward towards Diana. The Rocket was so stunned by what was going on, that he didn't order Kingler to stop. 

  
  


Alex shook his head, "No good, John, this is the only evolved one we've seen. It's probably the lead!" John nodded, but didn't change his commands. Thundershock was the best move his Magnemite could use in this situation, and John had little practice training his Pokemon for battle, and no experience guiding two Pokemon at once. 

  
  


Diana coughed weakly, "Bulbasaur, you need to distract it," she pleaded, weakly fumbling with the catch for the Poke ball on her belt. After a moment, the ball snapped open, and Bulbasaur perched on Diana's side. Normally she'd mind the extra weight, but that wasn't nearly as important as a giant Pokemon with razor-sharp claws approaching berserk out of its little mind. (Diana had been taking the advice not to denigrate water-types so much, but it seemed appropriate). 

  
  


Bulbasaur growled as loudly as it could, which was enough to temporarily pause the Kingler. The Rocket's sudden pleas to stop also confused Kingler. The *enemy* was in front of him, and he felt it with every fiber of his being. Something that was utterly opposed to his kind. Though, looking at the determined expression on the cub Pokemon standing near her, and the frightened expression on the enemy's face, the Kingler started to wonder if it had mixed signals from something.

  
  


That pause of consideration was all Snorlax needed to pound the crab with mega punch so hard that several of its legs broke under the sudden pressure. The Rocket quickly reclaimed it, and when it looked like Snorlax might be willing to use another trick besides Mega Punch; the Rocket called out his final Pokemon, a Fearow, and Flew away as fast as possible. 

John sighed with relief, and sat down. Alex, however, took this opportunity to punch Brad in the nose, now that infighting wouldn't possibly lead them all to be killed. Brad stumbled back, some blood coming from his nostrils. Alex didn't follow up, instead looking over Diana. He didn't look up as he said in a formal tone, "As a trainer for the Viridian City gym, I kindly thank you all for your assistance. However, we are not accepting badge trials at this time, so please return on Monday during normal business hours." 

  
  


Brad huffed, "Well, come on! Without me tricking out that water Pokemon, we might not have taken out that Rocket! How's that for gratitude." 

  
  


Bob shrugged, "That was very ruthless, Brad, but I'm impressed. Seeing a possible weakness and going for it instantly are a good thing for a trainer to have. The ability to crystallize the match down to that one punch. It's very rare," Brad beamed. A high-level trainer telling you this sort of thing was great praise, especially for someone suffering from doubts. Bob turned to look at Alex sadly, "As for you. I mean, you work for Gary! I think you would approve of Brad's methods. No one got seriously injured, and we dealt with the threat more quickly with less risk of collateral damage."

  
  


Alex gestured angrily at the pot holes Snorlax's mega punches had placed, "You had no concern for the environment in that battle. The only thing was to blow that Rocket away as quickly as possible. You didn't even blink an eye when Diana got slugged, as it didn't interfere with your goal. Gary is a sword, he strikes quickly, but cleanly. You, on the other hand, are a bludgeon. He chooses his battles carefully, and maneuvers with precision in them to finish them quickly with the least amount of pain for either side. I can see why the League didn't publicize your victory very much!" he finished bitterly, "Leave." 

  
  


Bob shrugged and walked away. Mission completed, and the gym, and Dratini, was secure. Brad blinked, and started off after him. Diana's weak voice stopped him, "Brad. Please don't follow him. You made a mistake. Alex told me that it's just something you learn from. I'm sure it was just a one-time thing. I'm sure we're still friends," Diana said hopefully. 

  
  


Brad said sadly, "Diana, we were friends a while ago. Today showed it. All you were ready to do was grab the Poke balls back and retreat. That's not how real masters do it. They go out and seize the day, continuing to slug on! I will not go back now. I won a battle today, and you lost. Statistics are other people. I'll always admire you, and I hope that someday we'll meet at Indigo, but I suspect that will not be for quite a while, but I will be honored to have you as my rival." Brad bowed once, and headed back for the Pokemon Center, after Bob. 

  
  


Diana moaned once as she left, and fell silent, burying herself in Alex's jacket to absorb the tears as one of the few people she thought she could still relate to proved she couldn't. Suddenly, a helping hand was on her other shoulder. John helped lift her to her feet, stared her in the eye, and said uneasily, "Studies show that people mature at different rates." 

  
  


Diana paused in confusion, then laughed once. A real laugh, not a small giggle, or something recommended to do so by society. It sounded vaguely like a waterfall. Diana smiled, though uneasily, the gut punch was still slowing her. "Thank you." 

  
  


****************

  
  


It was late Sunday when Diana was ready to travel again. John stood patiently by the door while Diana finished saying goodbye to Alex. The junior trainer blushed redly as Diana enwrapped him for a moment. "I'll send you an e-mail when we camp for tonight," promised Diana. The other Pallet Town trainers had either chosen different routes or gone on ahead, for the most part. That didn't bother Diana. If nothing else, the weekend had shown there were multiple routes to solve a problem.

  
  


"You be sure to do that. When I finish here, I'm going to hunt you down, Diana! And no matter how well you've been doing against Rockets, you don't have a chance against me!" promised Alex in a mock threatening tone. Diana giggled once. She hefted in her hand a final present from her fellow trainer, a real trainer, as opposed to someone who saw Pokemon for battles, like Bob, who had saved the babies only to make sure the right person battled with them. Alex saw the shadow on her face and promised, "I'll ask Gary to make a report to the League. They trust his judgement, and there will be an investigation. I swear to you on that. It sounds like Bob has been away from League control for too long," Alex promised. Diana hugged him again, which made Alex's serious air break completely as he stiffened up and turned red.

  
  


John watched the two younger children with amusement. He didn't have a lot of dating experience, girls went for Pokemon masters, not research assistants, but they did make a cute couple. Plus, Diana was allowing him to tag along, and there would be more opportunities to research her skills and bond with her Pokemon. But beyond the research aspect (which John was honest enough to admit was important) Diana was someone who minded John of books on the old days, when Pokemon were humanity's one defense against a hostile world. Pets had come a little later, and that had still been with a great deal of respect. 

  
  


The battling system had been to help make sure Pokemon were treated decently, but the recent wave of champions had lured new trainers in the last few years, since Ash's spectacular victory the year before John could have first become a trainer, to go only for the thrill and dominance of victory, rather than the joy to be one with their Pokemon. John didn't think Diana would change the world, but making people think was almost as good. John had found that a long time in rumination was what led to good decisions, and the better decisions were those that withstood being called bad decisions. Diana, all in all, was a very good decision. 

  
  


"All right, I'm ready," said Diana with finality, and a last longing glance at Alex. She felt far more comfortable with him than with her parents. He was open and honest, and he didn't look at her as some specimen, like almost everyone else she had met. They had their dreams to accomplish for now, but someday they would meet again, and Diana wanted to make sure they were equals still, no matter what the hardships of achieving her dream of Pokemon mastery threw at her. Diana looked at her new cane fondly. The old one had been fine, but this one had been constructed from a tree with curative properties. There was little virtue left in it, but it was the thought that counted. Alex wasn't the best at carving, but you could see that it was a crude Dratini. With a final wave, Alex disappeared back into the gym, and Diana strode determinedly forward, armed with a new gift.

  
  


North, towards the Viridian Forest.

  
  


************

  
  


Somewhere in northern Johto, a member of Team Rocket had finally stopped fleeing. Something back there had caused his Pokemon to lose control, something Kingler couldn't explain, and the supposed easy mission had gotten more difficult. Yes, he had gotten somewhat careless, but several events were simply unexplainable. Now they needed to recover their strength. It had taken much for Fearow to make it all the way to Johto. 

  
  


Near where Fearow was guzzling down oatmeal by the small fire, a twig snapped. The Rocket and his Pokemon looked around alertly, starting to move stealthily towards the twig snap. Then, a wave of pressure caught him from behind, plummeting him and his Pokemon into unconsciousness.

  
  


Bob strode sheepishly out of the underbrush. From the shadows before him, a female voice chided, "I had to catch him too quickly. He didn't take what he deserve for hurting my poor sister, and I can't just beat him up now, it'd be... wrong." Bob shrugged and nodded. The version of events Athena had gotten were slightly edited, but the important part, with a Kingler reaching to chop Diana's head off, was left intact. Tracking a Fearow flying from Viridian within a narrow time frame had been easy for Athena's skills. She had wanted Bob to take the Rocket out because any suffering could be excused under a battle. 

  
  


Athena wasn't too fond of simply catching others in pain, it reminded her of dark memories, when the delicate blossom of her sister writhed and wilted while the poison burned, probably for all time, through her veins. Dark times, made worse by darker techniques Athena had tried too early to master. "The Gym Challenge will be good for you, Diana, and I'll be waiting to catch you at Saffron when you fall, so perhaps your landing will be easier than mine." With that vow, Athena set off again through the woods, making more noise now. There were more Rockets to hunt, and more people's pain to stop.

  
  


To be continued....

  
  


Author's notes: It took FOREVER and a day, but part 3 is done! Yay! There were about two major rewrites to the beginning, and three drafts of the fight scene. So, the only reason it took so long was I was trying to make it better, as a partial apology. 

  
  


Since there seem to be a lot of trainers who are away from their home cities, I thought I'd send one from the poison gym to help out Diana's state of mind. After two chapters full of failures and dark, mysterious foreshadowing, some people who could simply see beneath the skin seemed refreshing. True Pokemon trainers, seeing the spirit within rather than the body. 

  
  


Bob struck me more and more as 'dumb muscle' to Athena in the last part, and that's the part he plays here officially. Victory through raw power rather than skill, which is how he's won every battle so far in this storyline. Both Ash and Gary wouldn't be proud. Gary being out of town continues the fine tradition of Viridian being locked tight when trainers in the game arrive. 

  
  


I've checked semi-carefully, and I believe Diana's had only a few minor giggles up until now. She needed something to laugh about.

  
  


Remember to use that little read and review button in the corner! It makes me happy to receive all comments/compliments/criticism/promise to hunt me down and ensure I never write again. Well, maybe not that last one, but everything to make this a better story would be good.

  
  


Next time: Northward through Kanto! More random foreshadowing? Probably. ^_^


	4. Everyone gets driven buggy

The Trainer's Bond

  
  


by Tremor3258

  
  


Everyone Gets Driven Buggy

  
  


Disclaimer: Considering the sheer number of various licenses related to Pokemon, it's easier to simply say that I own none of it. Please don't sue me. 

  
  


Gary Oak was back in town, and he was reviewing the gym's weekend reports with interest. It had taken a few days longer to get back than anticipated, because of inclement Rockets at Cinnabar. Young Alex's tale of a vacation had held through the weekend, but the timing with Pallet had been merely fortuitous for the real activities. The League's 'Black Ops' group, who generally were even better at dirty tricks than their Rocket counterparts, had dropped a large number of Pokemon on poor Blaine. Where they came from was a mystery, but it was obvious they were from a Rocket creche. Their attacks had been enhanced via TMs, and they were in excellent shape for young Pokemon. However, they lacked the vigor one got from Pokemon that had been individually trained, and they showed no interest in keeping up their training regimens without a nice trainer standing over them, which meant much of their early life had been rule by fear. Of course, the fact that Rockets had been bombarding the island and it had taken two of the strongest gyms to bring the situation back to the usual low-level crime was a big tipoff that something was up. 

  
  


If there was one thing Gary Oak disliked more than getting sappy with a Pokemon when it came to training, it was attempting to dominate a Pokemon by inflicting your will upon it. One couldn't be an excellent battler if a trainer was too close to their Pokemon. A coach may be friendly with the team, but when push comes to shove, you have to know where the line was drawn. 

  
  


The fact that Ash had won the last tournament in spite of this showed that Gary had obviously not been training himself hard enough, relying on percentages and type matches in equal fights, rather than simply making sure his Pokemon were the best around. He had gotten too stuck in his ivory tower of believing he was the best. Following his loss at Indigo, Gary had spent some time wandering over Kanto. The fact that Red's training method worked better than Gary's, which had been literally scientifically proven, meant it was time to go study the gyms more closely, each of which had a different standard method of training, adapted to their gym's specialty Pokemon.. 

  
  


Gary had mocked them at first, and in his believed superiority, he hadn't done as careful a study as the people behind the Pokemon as he should have. He hadn't quite realized what hundreds of years of existence meant for each gym, no matter what continent. Even though much of the data for each gym wasn't quantified in any way, there were general guidelines one could pick out among the dreary ledgers of various badge matches, and the exciting entries from back in the days when Kanto had been a wild frontier. 

  
  


Gary had been planning to go to Johto, but a short trip decided him against it. The species weren't quite as well known there, and then there were the Ruins of Alph. Gary wasn't much for mysticism, and decided to perfect his study in Kanto, where people depended only on themselves and their Pokemon.

  
  


Gary had studied at each Kanto gym for a while, and learned the hints of what lie behind the special techniques, crystallized into training machines, at each gym. In there, with the gyms' knowledge of the elements, was where Gary believed the true Mastery lie. Application for a gym leader position, restoring the old Viridian Gym to something of its former glory, was really another step on learning to understand the power at the core of the strange beings whom humanity shared the planet with. 

  
  


Very few people understood that now days, which Gary had quickly realized. The Indigo championships displayed little of the sort of skill that had been seen in previous years, and raw power was meeting raw power, and losses happened when someone screwed up the type matches, rather than finding some clever way to exploit their Pokemon's power for gain. It was no wonder that Koga had gotten fed up, retired his gym position, and then cleaned up easily through the tournament using only his favorite poisonous variety, rather than a balanced team. It had been so good, that when the League did its usual rotation of some of its champions to League status, Koga had been on top of everyone's list. 

  
  


With Gary's thoughts being brought back to the present by thinking about modern trainers, he finally looked up from his desk. Alex was sitting there, not nearly as calmly as he had been twenty minutes ago when he had dropped off the weekend reports. Deciding the youngest trainer currently working at the gym had suffered enough, Gary brought up the video recorded by the gym's security cameras during the battle. 

Gary understood Alex's rather infuriated reaction when he had mentioned the battle after seeing Robert in view. Robert was a powerful trainer, but he had battled the Rockets for long enough to start thinking like them in some ways. He was a very strong trainer, but his battle tactics were the same sort of thing Gary generally derided with raw power and type over the sort of planning that made a Master. 

  
  


The trick with the Gyarados was a bit confusing, and he'd have to remember to pump his grandfather for information about the girl later. Robert shouldn't have had any trouble controlling that powerful beast, unless he had completely lost his mind by putting a half-tamed super-powered Pokemon in the middle of a peaceful city. 

  
  


"You did good with Rhyhorn," offered Gary, and Alex blushed at the praise, "That horn drill maneuver was just about the best you could hope for there, before Rhyhorn got wiped out. You're lucky Gyarados didn't wash you away as well." After that, Gary was silent for the fight, watching calmly. His eye did twitch, once, when Sandslash got picked up by Snorlax's psychic and knocked out. 

  
  


Gary noted a few things. Decent, slightly above-average proficiency in battle tactics, though the three younger ones obviously were still new enough to battling to need some work with non-standard tactics. The sand attack had stopped Drowzee from wiping out the sleeping Snorlax, but it had inflicted plenty of damage on their own side. That, and the levels were low, but the potential was there. Then he saw Kingler's reaction, fairly clearly from the camera's angle on top of the gym, and watched Kingler charge forward like it had a blood oath to fulfill.

  
  


"All right. I'll mention this to the League, but don't expect a lot to come out of it," warned Gary, "Frankly, their general reaction is probably going to be that low-level trainers should remember to stay out of the way of dangerous Rockets. About Brad, his actions probably did stop her from being flung around by a psychic attack. I will ask Brock to go easy on them, they did help defend a Gym and they deserve that much. Well, they may have made it past there by now. Do you think I should call Misty?" the Viridian leader asked.

  
  


Alex shook his head, "I doubt it, sir. John, the older one, showed only a Magnemite. If that's all he has, he'll need to train up a Caterpie. That'll take a few days, at the very least." 

  
  


Gary nodded, "All right. It's obvious you need to do a little team battle training. Take two Pokemon out and do some work. It's rare for multiple trainers to battle at the same time, but you need to know how to handle multiple Pokemon, which will make occurrences like with that Sandslash a lot less likely. I'll check on your progress in a few hours." Alex bowed and backed out. Considering how foolish he had looked, that had been the best he could hope for. 

  
  


Gary, in idle curiosity, pulled up what was known on the various trainers. Obviously not a lot. Grandpa kept good records, but with the trio of younger trainers being new. Brad's file was typically blank. John's file had a small resume attached for where he had worked as a research assistant for the winter in Saffron at Silph Co., of all places, before journeying to see Grandfather talk. John looked fairly typical, with dark hair and eyes under his glasses, and Gary mentally tagged him as a super nerd, similar to those he had faced in his initial journey. 

  
  


Diana's file made him nearly drop out of his chair. Gary hadn't placed the quiet, nervous girl as being related to Athena, who's aura of barely restrained fury added an interesting element to League meetings when she attended. For that matter, Diana lacked the elegant tattooing that covered most of Athena's left side and sections of her right arm and leg. Gary had assumed it was some family design but it was obviously something else. Then Gary's eyes narrowed. Put into the context of NOT being some forgotten custom, Gary wondered exactly what the patterns were of. They didn't resemble any Pokemon he knew, but he thought he may have seen one of the symbols in his periodic attempts to sort out Giovanni's mess of the gym's notes into a reasonable order. Gary scribbled a note to bring a camera to the next League meeting. "Now, let's hope as she gets farther away from Pallet, the Rockets won't realize whose sister is vulnerable," Gary muttered. He didn't quite believe her record, but it was obvious Rocket did. 

  
  


*************

  
  


Diana's mind wasn't on training exactly at this point. Instead, she was merely willing to lie back in the soft grass in a clearing somewhere in the Viridian forest and lie back and nap. Her habit of waking up early to do training had carried over now that school was stopped for her. John, on the other hand, was a bit more of a late riser, and wanted to try and catch a rare Pikachu as long as they were in the fabled nesting grounds. Evidently, John was going for an electric specialty. 

  
  


The combination of late bedtimes and early mornings, along with the effort of navigating the roots and bumps of the forest, had proved too much on their third day in the Forest, and with Pidgey nestled on her chest as a bug deterrent, she was catching up on her rest in the beautiful setting. Unlike her normal attire, she actually had taken her jacket off, feeling comfortable enough to expose her scars as she only had on a t-shirt underneath.

  
  


Naturally, John took this moment to ruin it by stomping in, followed by his entourage of Pokemon. Meowth and Magnemite were old compatriots of his, but the Metapod was a new addition. John had done some studying on Pewter, and knew a normal and a steel/electric wouldn't be the best in a match against Rock, even though Brock went easy if you didn't have badges and John's older Pokemon's levels were probably enough to cancel everything out. So, John had caught a Caterpie, and was trying to get it up to where it had a psychic attack. Diana awoke, but didn't even open her eyes when John stood over her, looking aggrieved. 

  
  


"I don't see how you can waste such valuable training time. You said that you were trying to do something because of your lousy showing in the last battle, and now you're napping!" John said snappishly. 

  
  


Lazily, Diana pointed at the edge of the clearing. Several small training dummies, crude constructions of twigs and vines, had been ripped to shreds by a variety of attacks. John noted the impact crater of a quick attack, and the lacerated portions where vine whips and constrict attacks had hit. One had even been singed by Dratini's new thunder wave. 

  
  


"Okay," admitted John, "I'll agree you have been busy teaching some new attacks to your crew, but you're in the middle of an area with brand new Pokemon, and you're only training the older ones! For that matter, you're missing out on the chance to add a prime anti-water Pokemon to your collection. I kind of thought you'd be going without sleep or food until you found one." John looked around suspiciously, "It's around here somewhere..." 

  
  


At that, Diana's eyes opened, and Pidgey chirped a few times as Diana shifted to look at John more directly from the ground. "Hey! I'm trying to deal with the irrational fear thing here," Diana said irritably, "I don't know why water types hate me, but they do! And I did find a Weedle before you did, and a Caterpie, I just sent them off to be held in stasis until I'm ready to train them."

  
  


"You only have four active right now, anyway? You're interested in the gym challenge, and when I asked you about Alex's Nidorina, you said you didn't have a problem with poison types, just poison attacks. Do you need an engraved invitation from Lance before you start using newly captured Pokemon?" John said in frustration. Diana didn't easily quantify. The scientist portion in him hated that. The less analytical part was wondering why Diana was taking more hardships on herself, when six Pokemon would probably make things easier. 

Diana said calmly, "Forgotten our last battle? I could raise their stats just fine, but if I keep them out, Caterpie and Weedle would need battle training, and I'm having trouble enough teaching four Pokemon that! If I'd done a decent job, Tangela would have remembered to not just send out its vines, but writhe them so they weren't easy targets. Instead, she got burned bad. Dratini got trained by Team Rocket of all people, and she's still a little bit loopy from that concussion she got." Diana popped the Poke ball of her belt and held it up, showing the miniaturized Dragon with a cold compress on the back of its head in the ball. 

  
  


"In other words, you need experience as a trainer yourself, rather than for your Pokemon," concluded John. Diana didn't correct him exactly. These were all close friends right now, and while her emotions had steadied a bit since leaving Viridian, she didn't feel able to include anyone else in the group right now, and she didn't quite feel comfortable saying to John that she didn't feel friendly enough to gain additional Pokemon yet. John, however, was continuing to speak. 

  
  


He smiled brightly, "That's easy! Let's talk strategy for Brock!" John pulled out a book and started reading, "The Pewter City Gym is one of the oldest in all of Kanto, ringed on three sides by mountains, the settlers quickly established a Gym for their town to be able to be protected. The Pewter Gym is also believed to be the first gym where a Badge was developed, in the sense of a creation that somehow enhanced a trainer's ability with Pokemon. The integration of HM activation into the badge came later.

  
  


"While the reason behind most gym elemental specialities has been lost to history, Pewter's rock speciality was obviously chosen from the local Pokemon. The Pewter Gym has been designed to maximize the advantage of the type, mimicking the local mountain terrain and dry air. Traditionally one of the first gyms trainers encounter, the Boulder Badge is also one of the most useful, as its powers include the boosting of a Pokemon's strength by a minor, but useful, degree, along with being the activation item for the Flash HM," John finished.

  
  


"Thank you, Mr. Exposition," said Diana with a faint smile, "Bulbasaur is up to vine whip, so I should be able to do pretty well against the low-levels Brock has rookie trainers cut their teeth on, and most of the rest of my team is decent against ground types. I also should have a speed advantage, so I thought I could use Tangela to wear down the preliminary trainers with her wrap, and then Bulbasaur is my linebacker with his grass powers. Pidgey's a backup, but according to the type matchups, pecking through their shells could take a while, and if they have decent endurance, Pidgey could wear himself out before he gets a knockout, even if they never manage a hit."

  
  


John said, "That sounds like a decent plan of attack. I haven't faced rock Pokemon ever, but you're right that my electric types will have trouble. Meowth here has learned screech, which will do a good job of keeping the trainers disoriented, which may go a way towards evening out the fact they're better battlers, and Meowth's can just pound them down with pay day and then bite. If that doesn't work I've got Magnemite as my secret weapon if Butterfree isn't enough." 

  
  


Diana finally sat up in surprise, dislodging Pidgey with a surprised squawk. Diana glanced at the small bird apologetically before asking, "Didn't you just say your electric Pokemon would be having trouble? Their jolts would barely affect a Geodude. EVERY trainer knows that. And, Magnemite is steel too, so ground attacks fold it up like ..." Diana looked around for similes, "A collapsible cup!" 

  
  


John grinned, and the sun flashed off his glasses for a moment as he posed, gesturing at Magnemite, who merely buzzed slightly. "Ah, but Magnemite has a special attack. I didn't use it last Friday since it might have pounded Snorlax too, but in a gym situation with only opponents in front of me, it should be fine. Want to see?" Diana shrugged, and John took that as a yes. "Magnemite, use sonic boom against those wooden dummies!" Magnemite's electrical powers were focused on the air in front of it, using magnetism to squeeze air quickly and suddenly into a tiny pocket. When Magnemite released, a thunderclap announced a wave of pressure moving forward , splintering the dummies. In the bushes behind the remnants, a quick spot of yellow suddenly tumbled from hiding, looking irritable and disheveled, like it had just woken up. 

  
  


John, who had been standing directly behind Magnemite to avoid the attack (and splinters and wind), looked up in amazement. "I knew there was one around here somewhere! I can't believe it was just sleeping near you Diana!" said John in amazement. When there was no response, John said fearfully, "Diana?" He turned to look at where she had been, and then his eyes followed the path that had been flattened several feet in the grass. Diana had both hands over her ears, looking a bit pained, and Pidgey's eyes were spiraling in his sockets on her lap.

  
  


"What?" she said loudly.

  
  


"Never mind," John advised hastily. It probably wasn't a good idea to upset her further right now. She may try for the Pikachu just to spite him, and Dratini could just sit there, wrap, and take thundershocks all day without alarm. "Magnemite, go out there and tackle!" Magnemite buzzed cheerfully and flew forward, smacking Pikachu fully clear of the bushes. 

  
  


Pikachu wasn't able to fight back with full effectiveness. She had just been woken up from a nice nap, with dreams of powerful trainers guiding her potential, and she had been staking out this campsite and the two trainers for a little while now. However, being caught like that didn't make her look good. She had been intending to lead them on for a few days, to show how good she could be. Now, she was disoriented from the sudden shock of being awake, her ears were ringing from the sonic boom, and she was facing a Pokemon whose natural magnetic field meant electrical charges tended to bleed off around it until it could absorb them. 

  
  


John, however, noted its condition, and hoped it had been weakened enough for his next move to work. Otherwise, Diana would probably start muttering under her breath and try and capture it. Their ground rules had been failure for a Poke ball to make a capture gave the other person a chance, though the first person to sight the Pokemon was the person who got to lead off. "Poke ball, go!" John tossed the Poke ball out. Pikachu took one last glance at her opponent. Well, he seemed nice enough, and had been quick to take control of the momentum of the fight. Pikachu let fate take its course, and shrunk with a cloud of smoke and an inrushing of air as the Poke ball halves closed around her. After only a single wobble, the ball was completely inert. John cheered, and ran to pick the ball up. 

Diana said, still a bit loudly and flat from her ears ringing, "If you're going to test that, do me a favor and do it away from me. Far away from me. We're a bit distant from a Pokemon Center and electrical burns are supposed to be nasty." John started to apologize, and then Diana waved her hand, "Forget it, just remember to warn me next time you land a jet next to my head." John quickly pulled out a notebook and wrote the comment down. Diana sighed reflexively.

  
  


***************

  
  


It was Thursday late in the afternoon, a day-and-a-half later, when they finally left the Viridian Forest. Metapod had broken out of its shell yesterday evening, and confusion was an easy attack for the cute little butterfly to master. Now, if John could only get Diana to stop petting the fuzzy dual-type, he'd be happy and ready to do his first gym battle.

  
  


Once he finished reading up on the Gym one last time anyway. And stopped by the Pokemon Center. Preparation was one of Diana's traits as well, but this was starting to seem obsessive. John explained, "Old book on the Pewter Gym, this isn't the 'Kanto Guide'. The Gyms try not to let too much escape about which Pokemon the current leader is using, but this is something Bruno of the Elite Four wrote as a memoir." Diana nodded her understanding, and felt relieved that at least John was reading some other story about Pewter City. Bruno had handed the gym off to his prize pupil, Brock, before heading off and becoming one of the League Champions and then a member of the Elite Four. John grinned ferally, "This is a copy I found buried in a second-hand shop back in Saffron. Bruno accidentally mentioned that the traditional Boulder Badge challenge from a trainer without badges is met with a Geodude, and then an Onix. Brock is fairly conservative as gym leaders go, keeping to the old tradition of maintaining the gym and helping out the city rather than dabbling with politics."

  
  


Diana said, "I'm not as bright as you John, but I can see where you're going. After the prelims, we're probably facing a bowling ball and then a rock snake. Just out of curiosity, what happens when it's not the first Gym battle?" 

  
  


Diana was REALLY only trying to make pleasant conversation on the cloudy day, trying to keep her spirits up despite that omen, and the fact she was hungry and worn out. Despite the token politeness, John took it seriously and flipped through a few pages quickly, and then again more slowly, before he said in confusion, "Nothing. I guess it's anything goes." Diana shrugged. Who knew what kind of things gyms had in their back rooms? Gyms were given a great deal of privacy and security in exchange for the help they gave communities in their dealings with Pokemon. Still, it wasn't such a great taboo that Giovanni had managed to hide anything out of his gym. He had only made it a temporary headquarters out of desperation before being trounced by a certain future Master yet again.

  
  


The two quickly reached the Pokemon center and dropped their Pokemon off into the recovery apparatus, and getting a late lunch at the Center, though they ended up spending more than they had really meant to. On the other hand, it was their first decent meal in several days. Dehydrated camping foods weren't that expensive in a land with plenty of people always out on the road, but the cheap ones tended to taste terrible, and it was all the duo could afford at this point. It was so bad the two had barely touched the last few days worth of food, preferring to leave the leftovers out as an alternative to using Repel to make sure no bugs came by in the night.

  
  


Grabbing a table, the two dropped their trays piled high with food in sheer bliss, ready to dig in ravenously. Before their table manners got the chance to desert them, a voice cried out incredulously from the next table, "You actually made it here? I thought you had given up a week ago!" Once she recognized the voice, Diana groaned and put her head against the table, nestled in her arms.

  
  


Brad continued, "I mean, frankly Diana, you're a nice person. I expected you to stay with what's-his-name in Viridian. Why are you ready to go up against Brock, who's one of the most serious trainers on *Kanto*? (which is really saying something)," Brad paused for breath.

  
  


Diana said softly, "Brad. I thought you were going to look out for me. Pokemon are so much more than fancy cock-fighters. I doubt I would ever have left my house again if it wasn't for Bulbasaur. I've promised that I would go through the Gym Challenge. I can't expect you to understand this, but helping my friends grow goes a long way towards getting me out of bed in the morning." John was silent, feeling a moment of clarity come similar to when he had first seen Diana's scars. Despite the fact they were traveling and camping at the same spots, they weren't quite traveling together, and it took watching Brad twist the knife into her to further his previous observations.

  
  


Diana had once mentioned her motivations, but it was obvious she hadn't said everything. She KNEW how much this could cost her. It was possible she would collapse from exhaustion and pain and become a meal to an Onix somewhere, and she knew it. People who meant well mentioned this to her all the time, hurting one of the few things left to her. She didn't think she was attractive, people's first looks before smoothing into non-expression were enough to ensure that. Diana had probably done well in school, but needing to catch up the months of work she had missed left her behind most others. The one thing she felt she could rely on was her Pokemon. They didn't judge by something like appearance, they went far deeper than that. Brad, her old friend, acting contrary to her lifeline was thus a double betrayal. John's occasional absent-mindedness and mistakes were merely annoying in comparison. He meant well and tried hard, which was a mirror of herself. 

  
  


Brad was stunned by the statement as well. It took a moment before he said, "You're doing this for the Pokemon? Bob said the Pokemon really only care about evolving. What importance do the little trinkets have for them? Proof of victory? Hah! They only need a nice comfy spot by the fire and some food."

  
  


"They're not trinkets!" John finally exploded, raising some eyebrows. "They bridge the gap between trainer and Pokemon!" Diana paused in her tears for a moment, and John lamely explained, "I saw that quoted in a book." Diana's frail body shuddered again, but with a small bit of laughter. 

  
  


Brad said brusquely, "Brock's interested in rock hard strength! What does that have to do with bonding? Sandy will take out those Rocks with just one blow!"

  
  


John said in confusion, "Wait, you sounded like you had been in town for a few days. Why haven't you obtained the 'little trinket' and moved on to your next pillage and plunder stop?" 

  
  


Brad winced and explained, "Too many Pallet Town trainers clogging up the prelims. The waiting list has finally cleared up, but for some reason, my paperwork got lost in the shuffle a few times, so I've had to wait. But don't worry!" Brad powerposed, "Soon, I will crush the Pewter gym and move forward! Gym Leaders, fear my power, for soon I will conquer Kanto!"

  
  


"Not with someone on the inside working against you. Alex, you've been near Gary too long," murmured Diana, softly enough that only John heard her, but Brad stared at his sudden snort of laughter. She continued, "John, talking to him will only make you angrier. He's not willing to listen right now. He's just going off appearances, like that Pokemon are just brawlers for humans. There's no way to reach him with words. I do appreciate the effort, though." 

  
  


John thought for a moment, and then said, "If you're just here for the Badge, why don't we go see who can talk to Brock first and ask him what he thinks is more important. Power, or the ability to use your Pokemon effectively?" 

  
  


"That means getting through the prelims if you want to face Brock!" Brad said excitedly, "Which I was planning to do anyway. Fine, he's only Brock anyway! He will face my Pokemon's strength and be crushed by it, and then we'll see what he exactly thinks about." Brad stomped off, pushing his way rudely to the end of the cafeteria.

  
  


"Brad? The prelims don't start for another two hours!" yelled John out, but Brad was already gone. "Oh, never mind, he'll figure it out," he huffed. "Are you all right?" John's mood switched back. Crying female here, and that was something no amount of preparation could quite prepare him for. 

  
  


"I'm a little better now," Diana said, eyes slightly red, "Thank you for standing up for my beliefs. It was a very noble gesture. People ... don't normally stand up for me," she said weakly.

  
  


John shook his head, "I know what it's like to have a goal, and dedicate yourself to it, no matter what conventional wisdom says." Diana looked at him in confusion. One of his Pokemon could probably blow her team away, he was seemingly equipped for any situation, and he generally radiated confidence in himself.

  
  


John sat down and took some food to prepare himself. "Considering how you've been forced to open up, it's only fair to reciprocate. After all," he said earnestly, "Allies share weaknesses with each other." The devoted puppy look when he said this like it was the secret to how humans relate to each other was almost too much. 

  
  


"There's a better way to say that," said Diana, managing to keep a straight face via a tight grip to her cane. 

  
  


"Huh," said John, mentally noting the fact. "Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes! I mean, I've wanted to be a researcher, right? That's all science, and analyzing attacks and statistics. But like I said when we were trading earlier stuff, Pokemon are more than just the sum of their stats. I realized that at Silph. They have lots of Pokemon whose job it is to check out the new boosters and items on. But I saw all the other trainers' Pokemon going up against Sabrina, who you probably could relate to, by the way; and they were so much more, well, there than the other Pokemon. Getting to know Magnemite better opened a whole new world to me I hadn't realized was there before. So, I'm going around Kanto, because there's so much more I need to learn."

  
  


Diana watched John go back to attacking his food for several minutes in stunned silence before managing to get out shakily, "That was very deep, John. I'm the one who needs to apologize. You've learned lessons as well as I have, without having to be thrashed within an inch of your life to do it." 

  
  


John shook his head, "I've had it easy. I've seen you go through several variations on hell in the last week, and you're still going. Maybe because it's the best of a lousy set of options, but you're an inspiration to me. I mean, I doubt I would have spent several days looking for a rat if I didn't feel the need to at least match what you go through when just walking around for any length of time." Diana felt her cheekbones heat, but John didn't seem to notice, "Now go on, eat! You need to keep your strength up!" Diana nodded, and the rest of the meal passed in an easy silence.

  
  


************

  
  


An hour later, Diana was feeling a little better, especially with her Pokemon back by her side. She was also dressed for a storm, wearing her full outfit complete with her wide-brimmed hat covering much of her face. They were headed to a rock gym, so it was likely the challengers were loaded down with water types, and she didn't want to cause a scene. If anything, it might confuse the water types for a few seconds. Her arm would start to act up, and then water Pokemon got bizarrely quiet around her before lunging to attack. Diana took a deep breath, trying to focus and not spiral down into her nightmares.

  
  


Stepping back outside after the mutely lit Pokemon Center helped. Though the day was still cloudy, it was starting to break up, and the noises of the city that spread north from the Pokemon Center were a good way to focus on the here and now. "Ready?" asked John. Diana nodded determinedly, nearly losing her hat. The sudden fumble helped remove the rest of Diana's dark mood, driving the lurking shadows back.

  
  


It was a short walk, about five minutes, to the massive gym building. Carved from local granite and kept in excellent repair over the centuries, despite years of pounding wind, and the occasional, though very rare, storm that made it through the Indigo mountains into the rain shadow. The gym was built like a fortress, but gave off the aura of a lord's castle. Knowing who owed homage to the castle's lord was obvious from the Golem statues built next to the massive steel doors. 

  
  


The entire gym structure had been honed to one fine purpose: psychological warfare. No one, Pokemon or human, could look at the gym and not feel awe. Here was power and purpose and literal centuries of sweat, blood, and tears, dedicated totally to the raising of Pokemon and trainer alike. The Pewter gym was the badge fight done at the lowest levels, but that was because the badges had been invented here, and this tradition was what trainers had to aspire to if they had any hope of completing the Gym Challenge. John, however, showed his usual lack of attention to human psychology when it wasn't being force fed at him, and pushed open the doors easily. 

  
  


Inside, however, the two quickly figured out why Brad had run off so quickly. There was still quite the line of trainers waiting inside. Brad, after several days in Pewter, had known right when to come to fight in the FIRST block of preliminaries. It would be likely that they were in the last group. Diana merely shrugged and leaned on her cane, opening her Pokegear to do some e-mails. John kicked at the floor in irritation that Brad had managed to show them up to a degree.

  
  


*************

  
  


Two and a half hours later, Diana was waiting calmly for the last block of trainers to be called in for preliminaries. The typical point of the junior trainer battles were to prove your Pokemon were qualified to fight on an equal level with the gym leader's selected Pokemon. Against the leader, trainers in the normal progression would rely on strategy, though some people trained for quite a while before moving on to their first badge. Between the Pallet trainers and the start of spring in general for Kanto, things had been insanely busy, and the fights were limited to one on one to allow each gym trainer to handle more at a time. 

  
  


Still, even one on one, ensuring your best Pokemon would go forward, quite a few people had been wiped out. The girl's locker room had been stuffed with people in their pre-battle rituals when Diana entered, and matches had already been going on for quite a while. Soon, Brock would face the remnants of the once large crowd. Diana had counted about twenty girls, and she assumed there had been more boys (typically there were more male trainers, maybe because society prepared them more for the rough road life) in an equal proportion, there were perhaps sixty trainers out of two or three hundred ready to fight Brock. 

  
  


Diana had dropped quick notes to her parents, and wished they would check their e-mail. A word of encouragement or two would really come in handy before the fight. Alex had dropped a quick line, with general notes on the weaknesses and strengths of Pewter's favorites. Strength was the right word, with low speed and enough muscular power to life a small car. Right now, Diana was quickly finished up a reply. She'd get called in shortly to whatever awaited her in the ring. 

  
  


"Alex, you mentioned you had collected a few badges before you worked at Viridian," typed Diana on the keyboard, having finished a summary of everything up to this point, "Did your palms sweat too? I know I can reapply to battle again in a month, but a month is a long time, really, no matter what people say. In one month I went from planning my own Pokemon journey originally to praying to whoever would listen that someday I would have the strength to stand again."

Diana thought for a minute, and then continued, "I guess all I can do is try to at least equal the effort my Pokemon will put forth. I know they'll do fine, but a team is only as strong as its trainer. And with Brad's attitude and the fact Bob IS an acknowledged Master, it makes me wonder if I have the wrong approach. I know most trainers aren't like them, and I know I'd die for my Pokemon, and they'd probably, no, they would do the same, but nonetheless, are they strong enough. Humans and Pokemon work together, the humans for the powers Pokemon can provide, and Pokemon for the strengths that can only be unlocked by being with a human. Tentacruel attacked me, not Athena, who was a trainer. Admittedly my memory of that entire period, starting maybe a day beforehand, is a little hazy from the beating I took. Still, it singled me out for attention, like there's something fundamentally wrong with me. I think that's where the fear comes from." 

  
  


Diana heard the door to the locker room open, and knew she only had a moment, "Speaking of being singled out, ask Gary to go easier on Brad. I know what it's like to feel that no one really cares about you, and that you're adrift. I had Bulbasaur to help me through, but Brad has a different relationship with his Pokemon. I won't lie and say I don't hate what he did to me, but I don't want anyone to go how I felt at school last year. With affection, Diana," signed the female trainer. As Diana was closing her Pokegear, one of the gym's workers popped his head around the corner and informed her that her group was up in a few minutes. Diana stood, grabbed her cane, and wished, just for a second, she was back home as she stowed her hat, backpack, and jacket. 

Waiting in a small enclosed alcove along with the male trainers wasn't conductive to positive thinking. It attached directly to the girls' lockers, but the boys was somewhere else and they were led in. A few chairs were scattered around, but there was only one guarded door to the gym floor. Trainers weren't allowed to see the matches to keep things equalized. Several boys slipped out, but none returned, either gone to celebrate their victory or to clean out their lockers and slink away was uncertain. When the first female trainer went out confidently, and then return in tears, refusing all questions and running into the locker, Diana felt like she was going to throw up. However, it was her turn into the grinder, and keeping her vow to succeed in the Gym Challenge in mind, she managed to get up enough courage to walk out the door.

  
  


It was very bright and noisy out in the prelim ring. To Diana, it seemed like they had managed to get a population equivalent to Pallet Town packed into the room. A line was cut through the seating to reach the actual ring, where a trainer's head could be seen, though the Pokemon was too small to show up. "Bulbasaur," she whispered, "Come on out before I lose my nerve." With a puff of smoke, the plantamal expanded to full size, and glanced reassuringly at his trainer. Diana felt a wave of support wash over her, and suddenly realized she could feel her hand again. Evidently her grip on her cane had been enough to drive all the blood out of it.

  
  


Diana and her Pokemon blinked in surprise when they saw the trainer more clearly while they walked around the ring. The female trainer standing opposite greatly resembled Diana or her sister. Well, or their father to that degree. The hair was several shades lighter, but the olive skin and slight almond shape to the eyes indicated someone whose family had originated on the central costal planes of Kanto, near Saffron or Lavender Town. A lot of those people didn't travel, preferring the trade came to them, but those who did leave as trainers were noted for having far more of the 'friendship evolutions' than usual statistically. However much she resembled Diana, she was wearing an exercise outfit with shorts, a tank top, and a headband, so Diana doubted the two thought exactly alike, but they were both trainers, and Alex had mentioned gym trainers usually were focused more on being one with their Pokemon than total power in their long talks. 

  
  


Diana also had to factor in the Lavender/Saffron bond thing. John had mentioned it once, and Oak had mentioned it as one of the reasons for giving Squirtle to her (before being forced to replace the Pokemon), as the professor hoped her being empathetic to another creature's needs would help incite her own strength to survive. As usual, the Professor had been right. Admittedly, having a Pokemon who had been a former Rocket-trained dragon immediately be willing to follow all her commands and transmit the necessary information on its attacks was unusual. Right now Diana assumed whatever Pokemon she could see once getting into the ring would be highly motivated.

  
  


Crawling up slowly into the ring, she noted the floor was some sort of loam, and a tiny mole-like creature was staring at Bulbasaur with bright eyes in front of the trainer. "Okay, Bulbasaur," said Diana, consulting the Pokegear, "That's a Diglett. They're lightning fast, but not very tough. If you can hit it with your best attack, we should win." Bulbasaur growled lowly and eagerly in response, ready to prove his worth.

  
  


Diana was glad for the choice she had made. She wanted to keep Bulbasaur back in surprise, but her growing nervousness made her decide on her oldest friend for psychological benefit if nothing else. Now, the decision to not press with Tangela was looking fortuitous. Tangelas wasn't very fast and Diana hadn't had it very long, so there hadn't been much speed training. She doubted the gym trainer would be foolish enough to stumble into a constrict attack to even those odds. Bulbasaur was the better chance, having at least stayed with Diana for a year (though she hadn't been up to training for most of that time), and they knew each other.

  
  


"Hmm, at least this will be interesting," noted the girl. She could use a good fight. Most of the Pokemon weren't that tough, and their trainers had made the issues worst by giving conflicting commands. Getting the classroom fluff pounded out of their heads was a big part of why there was gyms, and she was happy to oblige. The Bulbasaur looked well trained and confident, though judging by the size of the plant symbiote on its back, it wasn't far enough along to do a lot with its plant-based powers.

  
  


A hidden bell dinged. Somewhere, a gym leader was watching in a private booth, but that wasn't important. Bulbasaur's first action was for its low growl to become a near roar. The audience covered their ears as the sound reverberated through the structure. The Pewter trainer and her Diglett weren't that fazed, use to such psychological attacks. 

  
  


Thus, in response, the small mole cut through the dirt like a rocket, slamming into Bulbasaur. Diana managed to catch him before he could leave the arena, and the two went down in a tangle of limbs. "Okay, new plan! Hit him with the vine whip!" Diana ordered as the two reoriented themselves and stood up. A thin vine emerged from the bulb, and snaked towards the ground type. However, when the vine came close, the Pokemon simply ducked under ground, and the vine whip lashed impotently at the hole.

  
  


The young trainer and her grass-type looked around nervously. "No good," muttered Diana, "Diglett can duck too quickly, and the way it moves through this soft dirt, there's no way we can get ourselves prepped to deliver an attack in reaction to the next strike!" Diana looked around for inspiration, and then at her feet, noting the way they sank in slightly to the soil. Diana had spent a lot of time out in her family's garden near the recovery, and noted this was like potting soil. "That's it! Bulbasaur, use your vine whip against one of the posts, and let Diglett knock you into the air!" Bulbasaur blinked once in surprise, and then wiggled his toes as an evil grin came on his face, picking up the plan as his vine snaked out from the bulb to wrap itself around one of the ring's supports.

  
  


A sudden furrow announced Diglett's movement, but the two didn't even have time to brace themselves as Diglett hit Bulbasaur directly under the Grass/poison type's center of mass. Anchored by the controllable tension of the vine whip, Bulbasaur simply went straight up. Even as Diana yelled triumphantly, "Leech seed!" Bulbasaur was already spitting out the small pellets. Diglett ducked automatically in response, but the seeds hadn't been aimed at the mole. Instead, the seeds simply burrowed themselves slightly into the dirt before cracking open. By the time Bulbasaur set down, small energy-draining vines snaked themselves out over the ring and through the dirt. Normally, a Diglett could flee farther, but that would mean in this case popping out the side of the ring. A line of distorted earth showed where Diglett was being dragged into the center of one of the leech seed's powers as Bulbasaur's bulb glowed with captured energy. 

  
  


After a moment, the ground burst open as Diglett gasped for air, some of its power sucked dry by the leech seed's effects, even though they had been spread over a farther radius than usual. "Now!" said Diana, but Bulbasaur hardly needed the encouragement, wrapping Diglett in his vine whip and spinning the ground Pokemon like a yo-yo. With a puff of smoke, the trainer recalled Diglett and bowed deeply. Instinctively, Diana returned it. Bulbasaur bowed as well.

  
  


"Congratulations on using the terrain against me to such an advantage. Your Bulbasaur is better than I thought to take two direct hits so easily from Diglett. You will now advance to face Brock," said the trainer while still bowing. Diana nervously made her thanks and the enemy trainer left the arena as the audience bowed. Then Diana realized that Bulbasaur wasn't leaving its bow. 

  
  


Diana scooped the Pokemon up in her arms and hugged it, looping the cane around her wrist with some rope she had added to the purpose. It kind of hurt the effect of looking like a Dratini, and Alex hadn't realized how much more easy it would be to use, but Diana had added it the first night in the forest where Alex's feelings wouldn't be hurt.

  
  


Bulbasaur growled reassuringly, though a bit weakly. There were two large spreading blotches, one on the side, and one on Bulbasaur's belly. "I'm really sorry, Bulbasaur," she said miserably over the noise of the cheering. She began to walk clear back into the room towards her locker. "I've got some potion that will get those nice and fixed, but you did everything just like I wanted you to. I'm sorry I wasn't able to point out where Diglett was coming from better." Bulbasaur made a disagreeing noise, and Diana hugged the Pokemon tighter, though only for a second, not wanting to injure him further, whispering as they walked into the alcove, "Bulbasaur, that's definitely one of the more selfish reasons I'm glad to have you. You're much easier on me than I am." Bulbasaur blushed, and if he had been on the ground, would probably have started tracing patterns through the dirt with a foot while murmuring humbly. 

  
  


Diana entered the locker room feeling better. Bulbasaur's injuries looked bad, but he was fully aware and responsive. If he could manage to do his old 'pep squad' role despite the injuries, then maybe she really hadn't done badly out there. Reaching her locker, she sat down with relief and pulled out a small vial of Potion. She could feel the tension from the fight bleed off as the chemicals in the spray bottle went to work, softening the discoloration. 

  
  


"Sorry, Bulbasaur, but I guess you're side-lining this one from now on," Diana commented and as Bulbasaur looked stricken, she insisted, "I know you'd give it your all, but these could end up serious if you don't rest. There'll be plenty of other battles." Diana thought for a moment, and said encouragingly, "Besides, you got me past the hardest part. That Diglett was technically too fast to ever be hit. You've done what should have been impossible and gotten us past the big cut. Fighting Brock would be an anticlimax. Plenty of people get Boulder Badges at this point, but a lot of people never can get past the prelims!" Bulbasaur preened at that, and nodded in agreement, and Diana sent him back to his Poke ball, taking a look at what else she had.

  
  


"Bulbasaur got lucky. Those injuries nearly broke his ribs," Diana muttered, glad that the Pokemon in stasis couldn't hear her. "The junior trainer managed to do that. What do I have to go up against the gym leader?"

  
  


To be continued...

  
  


Next time: Brock. Our heroine has to face a trainer with years of experience, and Pokemon who literally slurp up every attack offered to them. And if she can beat that, Diana has to confront the fact that the next gym on the checklist is chock full of WATER Pokemon and across some of the roughest terrain anywhere on Kanto from her current location. 

  
  


Author's notes:

  
  


Hmm, a long gym episode. Very long and you don't even get to the gym leader. Sorry. On the other hand, I think I got some nice character evolution into this. Diana had to have a nervous breakdown to get John to stop acting like the walking database. On the other hand, I actually put some comedy into this that was more than a one-liner. 

  
  


My main goal was trying to put into place why all those trainers challenge you as you walk towards the leader, and Adventure, as usual, had a great idea that I shamelessly ripped off here, including a modification for WHY Brock's gym has only one trainer while everywhere else has so many. Also, Pallet Town's opening of the gates seems to mark the general training season through the early gyms, possibly because this is the first good time to travel. That would explain why wherever you go, people are at your level in the game. :)

  
  


Oh, yes, the one month rule is something I came up with in order to prevent trainers from just throwing Pokemon after Pokemon at Brock's Geodude and Onix (or Misty's Staryu and Starmie, etc.) before they could be healed. It seemed to make sense. If trainers could constantly challenge by flipping in new Pokemon fast enough, before the gym leaders could heal, then the Gym Challenge wouldn't be very challenging. 

  
  


Why have Bruno used to run the gym? Come on, how many squinting trainers do you know about? Both use rock Pokemon, and Bruno looks a lot like an older, more muscular Brock (right down to the lack of shirt). Maybe it's an old Pewter Gym tradition for the leader to have that look and Bruno kept it, who knows? 

  
  


I actually wrote several pages related to Brad's preliminary match, but I didn't quite like the attention he was getting, so I changed it instead to focus on Diana's prelim, and only Diana's prelim. I WAS going to have the Brock battle against Diana but this was getting too long, and this makes a good cliffhanger. 

  
  


Brad's opponent looked a lot like Diana, something I was planning to torment him with. However, length and the way that would soften the focus of this chapter changed my mind. The only remnant is Diana's opponent, whose description allows me to set some more of my rules for how the world works in place. It's an odd mixture of ideas, some copped from two of the mangas (more from Adventure than the older one based FAR too closely on the anime). Of course, the trainer looking like Diana calls to mind the anime running gag that the trainers you faced seemed to look a LOT alike. To be fair, the original game's junior trainers resemble Ash/Red/Your Character to a great degree.

  
  


The mention of Lavender and Saffron City citizens being more likely to be empaths with the advantages inherent, as it were, is a nod to the fact that the Channelers, Psychics, and their sort are pretty much ONLY found in those two cities in the original games. Judging by the old map depicting coast line near Saffron and about how I figure the metrology would probably work , I figured the area had a "Mediterranean" style climate and hence the general 'phenotype' for those citizens. 

  
  


Diana is no Red (from the Adventure manga), who won every battle in Pewter City because his Pokemon were FAR better (one of the few times this happened in the series, generally things seem to be about equal). He managed to wipe out each and every opponent on the first shot. To his credit, he did choose these first shots well. The only reason Brock gave Red any difficulty at all was because the Pokemon Red was carrying that were strong against rock-types were wiped out from not being able to get to a Pokemon Center. I do recommend that volume though, it gives some great ideas about how the gyms fit into the lives of regular citizens. 

I'm going to wrap this up now, as the Author's notes are getting long. However, next time may have an omake based on the travels in the Forest: Figurines made of wood, three days in the woods. All I need is John with some really shaky cinematography and maybe a Ghastly or two causing problems. Diana already apologizes a lot. 

  
  


Until next time!


	5. In the path of the avalanche!

The Trainer's Bond

  
  


by Tremor3258

  
  


In the path of the avalanche 

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. This work is not intended for profit, but mere enjoyment to its readers. That should cover things.

  
  


******************

  
  


Diana was wandering the backstage halls of the Pewter gym. It had been estimated she had an hour before her place on the fight card when she had left the locker ten minutes ago. The loud roars and thumps echoing through the walls were a bit disconcerting, as this area wasn't as well insulated as the lockers. Diana had felt she needed to find some inspiration. She had already found one of the gym's trainers who confirmed her initial diagnosis. Bulbasaur's internal organs had actually been bruised a little from Diglett's kinetic energy. While it wasn't slowing him down much now, further battling might lead to permanent damage. A simple potion didn't cover this, and a full recovery cycle in a Pokemon Center took two to five hours, depending on how busy the Center was and the capacity of its machines. 

  
  


Diana had immediately gone and gotten Bulbasaur placed in line for recovery, but it meant she had only three Pokemon to deal with the gym trainer. Bulbasaur wouldn't want her to give up now, but without Bulbasaur, she lacked her primary anti-rock weapon. Tangela didn't have any spore attacks yet, and Pidgey's strength and endurance weren't anywhere near those of a rock type's. Dratini had better aim with her attacks, and she had been trained to be a decent battler without any help besides some cheerleading from her trainer. Well, Bob had said so, but Dratini had never shown great battle instincts and hadn't known about any excellent training methods Diana could copy. She was thinking either over-dramatization on the Master's part, or there was some sort of conditioning that had failed, leaving the dragon-type's memory hazy. 

  
  


Though Dratini hadn't lived quite up to her hype, she was a powerful Pokemon, and probably at a slightly better level than Diana's usual lead. She was definitely part of this battle, but if it was higher than one-on-one, there would be some problems. Tangela would be resistant to the attacks, but she was very young, and wasn't very courageous. Losing control of her attack because of a counterstrike had happened once already in a battle that was still a great deal of trauma for Diana by losing her old neighbor. Pidgey had a tougher mind set, but a weaker body. She knew her friends would try their hardest, but they all lacked battle experience. While the Pokemon Brock would probably use in the match would also be low on experience, Brock had been doing this for years and was Kanto's master over rocky Pokemon. Intellectually, Diana knew that he probably wouldn't go all out for a match that was supposed to be a simple test of skill, but Diana's emotional response had a bad habit of being able to out-shout intellect. 

  
  


Suddenly, her Poke gear dinged. Diana's face lit up as she opened it. Two e-mail messages had been picked off the network, one from Alex and one from her parents. Her face fell when she saw the heart-warming words of encouragement her parents had used, "Don't die." 

  
  


Listlessly, she tapped open Alex's e-mail, which was a bit more warmly written. "Hi, Diana!" traced across the screen, "I've only got a few minutes myself to reply, since I need to go work on sweeping out the gym. First : good luck in your match! I won't lie to you: Brock and his gym are a group of tough, dedicated trainers. Luckily, rock type's weaknesses are fairly easy to exploit, which is one reason Pewter is the first gym. Just stay calm and keep your head about you. 

  
  


"Some advice Gary gave me on my first day at the gym, which I could have used when I was getting the first three badges. Now, I'm giving it to you. He said, in that famous no-nonsense tone of his, 'Alex: you generalize on the Pokemon, but bet on the trainer.' It's an easy mistake to get caught up in looking at a Nidoking's spikes and armor, and ignore the fact that its slow and a psychic could bat it around all day without getting tired. A good trainer could find a way to win with Abra. A bad trainer would lose with a whole squadron of Legendaries. I'm sure you fall in the first category. I don't want to give too much information away, since it wouldn't quite be fair to everyone else, but think about this: Brock's types will be slower than his opponents, and he knows it. What would you do then? Good luck! :) Alex," finished off the letter. 

  
  


"Thanks Alex," Diana said out loud. "Okay, let's see. I've seen faster opponents beaten, and I did it against Diglett. The trick was to make sure you knew where the Pokemon would be headed." Diana forced down the memory of the Kingler charging at her, and instead focused on her fight against Diglett. "Cut off the maneuvering room and then strike it real hard. That's it!" Diana started down the corridor, boots and cane clicking against the linoleum eagerly. She quickly grabbed a gym member, "Is there some small room I could get some last-minute practice in?" 

  
  


The man nodded, and quickly directed her down the hallway into a small room that had been heavily reinforced. "I saw you're fight out there, and you did pretty well kid. Brock's pretty good about letting opponents facing him get a warmup, considering he'll have usually been involved in battling for quite a while, and his opponents are just waiting around getting nervous." The trainer paused wistfully and looked at his watch, "I wish I could stay and see you work. Most of the Bulbasaurs we see can't take two of Eiko's Diglett's full-on attacks. Most trainers would have been totally confused by not seeing their opponents, but it's like you've seen really lousy battle conditions before." 

  
  


Diana thought back to the poison gas attacks of almost a week ago, and then the attempt to stay hidden a few days before. "Well, I've gotten some close study at some unique tactics now and then," she said modestly. 

  
  


"Call it what you will. A lot of the people aren't that good yet, just launching attacks and holding their ground. Instant Poke-chow, really. I'll leave you to get warmed up, as I've got some things to do," said the worker, starting to close the door, before letting loose one final comment, "Brock's REALLY looking forward to seeing how well you do against him." As the door closed, Diana struggled to keep from screaming. As if she didn't have enough pressure. Diana dropped her Poke balls on the ground. She needed this more than she thought. "All right guys, now listen carefully." 

  
  
  
  


********************

  
  


An hour later, John had tracked down Diana to inform her she was up in about five minutes. The poor man nearly had a heart attack when a torrent of blue vines were all that were visible in the door. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I lost track of time! Tangela!" The grass-type quickly pulled herself together. The researcher blinked in surprise when they were visible. Diana wasn't nearly bundled up as usual, and her face was red with exertion. 

  
  


"Are you all right?" he asked, running into the room. He paused when looking at her arms. Something his subconscious noted earlier suddenly made itself apparent. Research was a sifting through patterns, and there was one. Most of the scarring was fairly random and straight lines, but "Why do you have four wavy lines on your shoulder?" John asked.

  
  


Diana blinked at the non sequitur and said, "Well, I'm fine, yes. I needed to practice a new strategy. It took a bit of effort, but I think I've got the hang for this fight. Now if Brock will do what he's supposed to, I'll be fine." Diana peered at John's suddenly embarrassed face as she started to suck on a water bottle, "Please tell me you didn't lose?" 

  
  


"Well, no," John held up his new Boulder Badge and said, "However, let it be said that standard rock fighting tactics may not apply in this fight." John was very uncomfortable. His Magnemite hadn't any trouble against Onix, but Geodude had wiped out Magnemite, and if Butterfree hadn't managed to confuse the rock type, he'd be waiting for quite a while.

  
  


Diana smiled, "Good." John goggled and Diana explained, "I've spent the last hour working on a strategy that figured Brock wouldn't rely on conventional wisdom. I'd hate to think all the training went to waste." John nodded, and realized he should have known better. The general tips he had relied on were just that, general. Brock had probably written or at least refined several of the basic anti-rock strategies, and knew ways to avoid them. 

  
  


"I'll ask you about your battle later, but I need to get out to the main floor. Oh!" Diana said suddenly, and held her cane out to John, "Hang on to this for me. You're not supposed to rely on anything but yourself and Pokemon in battles, and it'll only be for a few minutes anyway," Diana explained. Diana limped away, leaving John to wonder what he had missed. 

  
  


"Hey! You didn't answer my question!" John suddenly realized, but Diana had left for the time being and recalled her Pokemon.

  
  


****************

  
  


Brock stood confidently in the ring, surrounded by fairs. More people had failed for the badge then succeeded, but Brock's pride wasn't hurt by losing too badly. Those who won in a badge contest didn't typically win because they had a Pokemon power house, or knew a lot of moves, but they understood the flow of power in battle. 

  
  


The next opponent was an interesting case, and had apparently helped foil two Team Rocket plans already, and had some of the spoils of the recent defeat Team Rocket had suffered on Johto. Team Rocket had done some risky things in western Kanto attempting to get those Pokemon back, forcing something approaching all-out war on occasion. Any girl who could continue on with the weight of knowledge that she was one of the targets of the world's most evil organization was something in his book. 

  
  


Still, Brock wasn't quite prepared for who he faced now. The limp he had assumed to be from some Rocket-related injury taken earlier was evidently from something much older, judging by the scars. It was an odd mixture. She had shed the heavy clothing for something more appropriate for quick movement and heavy exertion, and so it was obvious she was treating this match seriously. Yet, it was far more obvious without a cane, though she was showing less obvious weaknesses by not relying on it. Brock could appreciate someone holding up over pressure, but he didn't think she was quite well enough for this. 

  
  


"Confidence is good too have, but it has a bad tendency to get out of hand and end up being shattered," Brock muttered to himself. It looked like it was his job to be the drill that did the damage. If a gym leader did it, then the pieces could probably rebuilt. Letting life in general do it would be a lot messier. 

  
  


Brock stood in the center of an arena. It was lined with ropes, similar to the wrestling-style ring, but it was four times as large, and the floor was much rockier and harder than the soft dirt of the prelims. Several large stone formations added a slight 3-dimensional element to the arena. He gestured towards Diana, who visibly gulped, and proclaimed, "You believe you can fight me and win this?" Brock brandished a Boulder Badge he had been holding in his pocket, and threw down two Poke balls. A Geodude Onix appeared, eager for battle, in a cloud of smoke. "These is one of my champions. Show me yours. Two-on-two battle, one after another!" 

  
  


"Go, Tangela!" Diana shouted. The plant Pokemon hopped forward, eyes staring bravely out from amid the mass of vines. 

  
  


"An interesting choice. No poison type weakness for me to exploit. But how well trained is it? Geodude, tackle it out of the arena!" Brock ordered. Geodude nodded and sped through the air, arms crossed in front of its face.

  
  


"Tangela, run for it!" Diana shouted in response, holding a hand high in the air. Tangela chirped and she ran so the nearest rock formation was in between her and the rock-type. Geodude shrugged and floated higher in the air, ready to come down on top of the grass type as he floated over the formation. Diana brought her hand down with a shout of "Constrict!" Tangela launched a set of vines from its interior. Unlike wrap, these were detached, and they quickly coiled around Geodude. Geodude blinked in surprise when it found it was unable to move its arms out of the guard position, and the grass nature of the vines was interfering with its levitation. Tangela's eyes were alight with merriment as the already slow Geodude got slower.

  
  


"Tangela, wrap time and don't let go!" Tangela chirped again and she sent her regular vines out. 

  
  


"Nope. You got your free shot in with the constrict, but now you'll start paying for them! Geodude, drop like a rock and counter!" Brock commanded. The vines passed overhead as Geodude cut his levitation out. Tangela gasped and quickly began to pull them in. Geodude, however, was already glowing with energy. His fighting spirit revitalized, Geodude snapped the vines surrounding it, grabbed onto a loose end, and then shot it out like a whip at Tangela, knocking the plant Pokemon back several feet. Tangela shook herself and finished retracting the vines, ready to go on.

  
  


"You have it trained quite well. Its wrap attack looks a little better aimed than normal. However, this isn't some lowly Geodude with just tackle. This is one I'm prepping for the next League championship, and so it has a few fighter moves to enhance it a little. Geodude, submission hold!" Brock ordered.

  
  


Tangela and Diana blinked in surprise as Geodude lunged forward to grab hold of the plant-type. Giving a small shrug (difficult when your body is all vines), Tangela happily coiled around Geodude, but she had only started the slow process of breaking through a rock like a plant's roots when Geodude slammed against the ground. Both were dazed and rolled in opposite directions away from each other. 

  
  


"Okay, that wasn't as dumb as I thought. Geodude is way faster than normal," muttered Diana, "Tangela can't quite keep a hold of a wrap attack if she gets hit like that, and even though when she's unwrapped like that she's taking more damage than Geodude. I need to grab him on the ground, and constrict is too short ranged. Okay, Tangela! Do what we practiced!" 

  
  


Tangela chirped and launched out another wrap attack. Geodude shrugged and calmly dodged it. Brock grinned and said, "As I'm sure you've guessed. All the fighting-style training has done wonderful things to Geodude's speed, and his defense level wasn't hurt either. Unless you've been hiding a vine whip in there, Tangela's just a tad out matched! Geodude, finish her with another submission!" Geodude nodded and went to pick up Tangela as she was unable to concentrate on moving while bringing her vines in.

  
  


As soon as Geodude picked Tangela up, however, Tangela shot her vines out all over the gym floor, wrapping around the rock formations. Geodude blinked several times in surprise as Tangela was no longer moving as Geodude pushed, and the coil reflex was too strong for the low-level Geodude to break through. The vines tightened and retracted, digging into the rock formations

  
  


"Oh!" applauded Brock, "Very nicely done! But if we can't bring Tangela to the ground. We'll bring the ground to Tangela! Geodude, tackle!" Geodude 'jumped' into the air, and came down with one elbow ready to jam Tangela's center of mass. Freaked out, Tangela relaxed her death grip on the rock formations. As she had already retracted a bit, the vines came whipping in faster than usual. Geodude had time for one yelp before he was engulfed in the mass of retracting vines.

  
  


Brock gasped in surprise as the vines roiled for a minute, and then Tangela spat Geodude out, who was unconscious from lack of air before walking over to stand by Diana. "Oh! Very nicely done indeed," applauded the gym trainer as he recovered, "You weren't getting a better grip, you were betting Tangela's elasticity would prevent the vines from snapping. That way, you could retract them while having them cover the same distance, so with them effectively closer, you boosted Tangela's attack speed and combined constrict with wrap!" Diana wondered if Brock was channeling the spirit of John for a moment, but figured the hot lights and excitement were making her hear things. 

  
  


"However, that won't do you any good against this! Onix, finish them!" The giant rock snake howled even as Geodude was recalled. The massive Pokemon almost reached the ceiling of the arena. Diana and Tangela's eyes followed the craggy creature up and up, before Diana visibly gulped.

  
  


"That's a whole lot of Pokemon," she noted faintly. Tangela chirped an uneasy agreement. Onix roared in agreement. "Tangela, let's try and slow that monster down, constrict!" Tangela spat out a spring-shaped vine from her depths that quickly wrapped itself around Onix, though it only managed to reach about one and a half times around the Pokemon's belly. Onix looked at it with some amusement, while Brock laughed.

  
  


"You'll have to do better than that attack against Onix here. He's a lot tougher than Geodude, and his attacks are better too! Rock throw!" Onix howled and spat a group of boulders from his mouth. Tangela tried to dodge, but despite greater vine speed, she was still slow on her little feet, and the boulders sent her flying into Diana's stomach. Momentum was conserved, and Diana was knocked off her feet, skidding along the ground before stopping only a few inches away from the foul line, which would end the competition. "Ready to give up?" asked Brock in a serious tone. 

  
  


Diana had the wind knocked out of her by several pounds of Tangela, and didn't have the energy to reply. Tangela was in no shape to attack, and Diana quickly recalled her before the unconscious Pokemon dissolved into spaghetti in her arms. Needing time to recover, and not quite ready to stand yet, she threw Dratini out without any commands, hoping she could dodge on her own until Diana got her breath back. 

  
  


Dratini took one look at the massive Pokemon in front of her, and blinked a few times in astonishment. Onix roared and dove down against the light-blue serpent. Dratini hissed once and quickly slithered away, letting Onix smash harmlessly into the ground. Well, harmlessly for Dratini. Onix popped back up with an irritated expression and a slight dent in its forehead. 

  
  


Luckily, this had bought some time for Diana, "Wrap him, Dratini!" Dratini made a joyful burble and slithered around Onix, maneuvering so her coils dug into the more sensitive areas in between sections, and hung on for dear life.

  
  


Oddly enough, nothing happened. Dratini and Diana popped one eye open with Onix failed to thrash about in a wild attempt to loosen the dragon. Diana shrugged, "Just keep going, Dratini. I think he's trying to irritate you." Onix didn't even blink at that, continuing to sit there, looking calm despite the way the dragon was starting to cut into its air. 

  
  


Brock, however, was carefully judging Onix's condition. This move was difficult to use, and was really a sort of refined counter. Brock wasn't surprised the young trainer was completely confused, as the bide maneuver was one of the greatest and most treasured techniques of the Pewter City gym, allowing one to absorb the stress and release it, similar to the Earth in an earthquake. If Brock let it go too long, Onix might start to glow from the stored energy. "Onix, bide attack!" 

  
  


Onix glowed now, but for a purpose as all of Dratini's attack strength was thrown back at her in one blow. Dratini screamed as power flowed over her body, and the dragon went limp, sliding off Onix and slamming against the ground. Diana started to crawl forward, not up to walking yet. 

  
  


What everyone watching agreed happened next was Dratini not making her usual vocalizations, but instead howling like something torn from beyond the grave as she managed to regain her 'footing' and begin to attack with Dragonbreath, the energy bolts snapping against Onix's scales. Onix immediately retaliated with a rock throw, but Dratini managed to slither her way through the rocks and wrap herself around Onix's neck. Howling, now with something approaching bloodlust, and the Pokemon began trying to aim the tiny horn on its head for Onix's eyes.

  
  


From Diana's point of view, she then screamed out to the Pokemon, wordlessly but panic had cleared her lungs. With a scintillating burst of clarity, Diana realized what was going through the Pokemon's head, similar to how Dratini had introduced herself via sheer willpower earlier. The Pokemon had been prepped by Team Rocket, and knowing it was going up into a world where it would be weak for a while, they had thrown far stronger opponents at it, ones it could barely scratch with its best attacks, and the Pokemon had been beaten up mercilessly in the name of training. Now, it was going to get revenge.

  
  


"Dratini, stop!" she called out. Dratini ignored her, still going for the eyes, ignoring the commands that weren't burned into her psyche. "Um, Dratini! Cease, halt, desist!" she commanded. Dratini blinked once in confusion, her mind cloudy. This was her trainer, who had showed a different possibility than the short life she had been dreading. Dratini had gotten some revenge against the Rockets in the past, but now the cycle would be complete and she would be free to battle and win. 

  
  


Dratini finally ceased trying for the crippling blow. Her thoughts were confused. She hadn't fought the previous Rockets to get revenge, but to stop them from doing to others what had happened to her. With one blink, Dratini saw the old creche in Johto, in another, she could hear her trainer, her world, pleading with her as she approached cautiously, covered in dirt and bleeding from several wounds. Dratini keened painfully, trying to figure out why things kept shifting.

  
  


With a sudden jolt, Onix dropped close enough to the ground under Brock's orders for Diana to approach. Brock wanted to see how this turned out, and if Diana could help. Brock had heard, as the other gym leaders had, about the Rocket-found Pokemon. Dratini's actions here could prove critical for all of them. If they reacted like this in gyms, and could be calmed down, all was well. Otherwise, the Pokemon would probably have to be destroyed for the safety of others. Pokemon rarely turned berserk, but even other Pokemon were usually eager for the Pokemon to be put to sleep. Pokemon's attacks were usually designed to drive off their enemies and allow them to live in peace. When a Pokemon used them to kill, things were thrown seriously out of balance, and the rogue elements were just as dangerous as a rabid wolf would be. Sad and traumatic, it meant a Pokemon had usually been so twisted by its trainers that its normal self was completely destroyed.

  
  


Dratini was simply frozen. She could feel something calling her, something better left to deep dark nightmares, buried within her. She knew she was in a gym, the presence of so many Boulder Badges was something fairly easy for a mystical Pokemon like the dragon types to pick up on. And the only time she had been allowed to strike back was in a similar situation, surrounded by Badges. The dragon's vision cleared for a moment, showing her trainer breathing heavily with eyes closed, pale and shivering. She understood, obviously, but she still held off the attack. Dratini remained paused, grip around Onix's neck fairly passive, but still slowly weakening the Pokemon. She was ready, all it would take was her trainer to give the word, and perhaps her vision would stop flickering between one and the other.

  
  


Diana felt much of this from the dragon, who had always been able to make its wishes surprisingly clear to her trainer. The cold desperation twisted with something inside that was ready to lash out. Even though it hadn't worked out because they couldn't get close to one another, Squirtle had done Diana an enormous amount of good. For a while, if Diana had gotten close enough to a water type, she'd have probably done her best to kill it, even crippled. Having one's life her responsibility had been a breath of air, and she nearly had that hatred under control, reducing it to fear. Unfortunately, she wasn't quite sure how to transmit that sense of calm. Dratini hadn't even been aware of this little present of the Rockets until now, and she needed something to keep her from backsliding. Far away on the edge of her conscious, she noted John had come out of the crowd and was trying to reach her, evidently feeling her life was in danger by being so close to Dratini. 

  
  


"Bring the worlds into order. You want a target, don't you?" she said kindly and softly. Dratini nodded once, jerkily. "I can't know quite what you're going through, but I know what you need. Just that release of striking back. Something. I don't suppose you could love tap or something?" Dratini stared at Diana, looking at her funny. "Guess not, she muttered." Diana looked at Onix. Pretty much anything wouldn't do to much damage, but striking the gym Pokemon to disable might encourage Dratini. Both of them knew it, and Dratini knew in a few moments she would do it anyway. "Disable.. That's it, Dratini, Thunder Wave!" 

  
  


Dratini hearkened to her trainer's command, but was confused. Her body knew it, but her mind was split. The part of her that leaped to obey and strike at the gym's who her masters had been angry at, and the only time she was allowed to be on the dealing end, didn't know that maneuver. The rest of her knew peaceful days in forest glades, mastering her natural energies and forming them into electricity. The overriding concern had been not to overwork herself, amid family, food and rest. 

  
  


Diana reached out to stroke the dragon's cheek, and that crystallized things. The shadows fell away, as the battered trainer who was still reaching out to be gentle was too different from strong, confident men who kept her on the nervous edge of exhaustion to exist in the same universe. Centered, at least for now, Dratini delivered the thunder wave into the part of her coiled around the neck. Targeting the weak point, Onix jolted with surprise and then collapsed.

  
  


"Diana is the winner!" declared Brock, and Diana shook herself as she heard the crowd roaring again, and she wasn't sure when it stopped. Dratini slumped against her shoulder, looking worn. Brock reached forward and clasped her other hand, leaving behind a small crystal-shaped badge. "Congratulations, Diana. I don't know how you managed to calm her down by just looking at her, but that was one of the sharpest bits of sheer training I've seen," he praised. 

  
  


Dratini and Diana had an equal look of surprise on their faces. "The crowd must of been really noisy," said Diana, "I was screaming as loud as I could." Diana gave a firm nod of agreement.

  
  


"Interesting," murmured Brock, but he quickly changed the subject, "Actually, considering the fact you tamed a dragon so easily before it could do anything that we could classify as berserk, besides it doing an amazing job dodging my Onix, I believe you are capable of using this successfully." Brock reached into his pants and pulled out a small box which Diana peered at for a moment before pocketing. 

  
  


"This is the Bide TM, the greatest ability of the Pewter gym," he proclaimed. "It allows a Pokemon to channel the power of an enemy's attacks to its own advantage. I judge you as the only trainer who I have battled today to be capable of understanding it. Use it wisely and well!" Diana bowed, and the audience reacted with cheers. 

  
  


John finally broke free and ran up, "Diana! That was amazing! I've never heard of anything like that! Dratini nearly killed you, and you just stared it back into passivity!" Diana blinked, but John went on, "Not to mention he gave you the Bide! Usually you have to work at a gym for years to get their special technique given to you! You've got to tell me where you found that technique!"

  
  


Diana didn't answer, emotionally and mentally worn out by a long day and having Dratini enter her mind, she fell into the warm abyss of sleep at last.

  
  


Somewhere nearby, a boy kicked the wall several times in frustration before headed out the door, mentally composing an e-mail he would send later. He had gotten the boulder badge far easier than that, as his Beedrill had driven both opponents down under twin needles and poison stings. However, Diana had managed to top him, though Brad wasn't sure how? By standing there? It was completely unfair. "Her sister must be behind this," reasoned Brad, "She's high in the League administration." With that thought in mind, Brad set out to the Pokemon Center. He would complete the Gym Challenge, and prove he was right, no matter what the gym leaders tried. The first trick was getting more powerful Pokemon, and that meant some research. 

  
  


**************

  
  


Diana awoke later in the Pokemon Center, Dratini curled up at the foot of her bed. Only a trainer could really get the Pokemon into his or her or its Poke ball. Diana looked at the IV plugged into her arm, and wondered if she wasn't suffering from flashbacks like Dratini, but when she listened carefully she could hear the powerful thrum of a generator nearby. Centers had back up power to keep their recovery machines running, less a power failure injure the Pokemon involved. Hospitals had backup power too, but they kept the generators farther away as their equipment was typically a bit more delicate around electrical fields. 

  
  


"Dratini, see if there's a chart at the foot of the bed, and bring it up here, please," Diana said. Dratini moaned slightly at having to move, but quickly brought the charts over in her mouth. Wiping off the traces of Dratini-drool, Diana was relieved to see the thinness of the sheet, she had only been in bed for a few hours, evidently. Mind less cloudy now as she woke up further, she also noted that she was still wearing the clothes she had battled Brock in, plus a few minor bandages. Moving slowly, she pulled the covers up and cautiously stood up, pleased to note her balance was fine.

  
  


"So if I'm not injured or anything, why do I have a tube stuck in my arm?" she wondered out loud.

  
  


"Exhaustion," said John, who was standing in the door with a plate of food. It was probably his, as she doubted John would have chosen to give her cod fillets, and the fact that he probably hadn't eaten when they were at the gym, meaning this would be his first meal in about eight hours. Confirming her suspicion, he sat down and began to eat ravenously. Between mouthfuls, he continued, "When you collapsed they brought you back here. The doctors couldn't find any injury that would make you faint like that, so they figured you may have been working too hard in preparation for the fight and started dehydration treatment." John suddenly seemed struck by something and pulled a Poke ball out of his pocket and tossed it in an underhand arc to Diana, who caught it only by sheer reflex, and then realized she didn't have any attached Poke balls. "Bulbasaur's supposed to be back to one hundred percent now, and the staff is busy running everyone else through right now. Well, except Dratini. I dosed her with a couple of your potions, so she should be all right now."

  
  


Diana nodded her appreciation and sat back down on the bed. Ripping the IV out would probably be a bad idea, and she didn't have anywhere to go until the healing cycle was finished. Soon enough, however, a doctor came by, and when she demonstrated she was conscious, they removed the IV and got her something to eat. After another hour of rest, retrieving her Pokemon, and a shower with some clean clothes, she felt close to human again. 

  
  


John walked back into the room, and tossed a small black bracelet with multiple empty settings on her bed as she was finishing packing. "Alex sent this in the mail for you. He thought you'd appreciate it. There was also a bunch of junk mail your parents forwarded. Apparently, you're already a winner," he noted. Dratini chirped irritably, and John took a step back at that.

  
  


"Oh, relax," Diana reached over and scooped as much of the Pokemon as she could into her arms as reassurance, "She's just bothered by having her nap interrupted. She's such a lazy girl, aren't you?" Dratini hissed in pleasure as Diana began to scratch behind her ear. As Diana was busy, the Boulder Badge she had attached to her jacket worked loose of the pin, falling down near the bracelet in her lap. Diana looked at them for a moment and then remarked, "So that's what this was for!" Diana explained what she meant to John by plugging the Boulder Badge into a small recess shaped like the badge on the bracelet. She quickly slipped it on. 

  
  


John examined it critically, "It's not really that great now. Sort of a jewelry you have to work yourself up to. Still, it was awfully cute of him to get you that."

  
  


"It's not cute," she replied indignantly, "It was a nice gesture for him to send me something so I can keep track of the badges easily. Now I shouldn't have to worry about keeping them on my person all the time."

  
  


"You're eleven. He's eleven," countered John, "At that age. All romance is cute." Diana couldn't think of an adequate reply. "Cuteness aside, I assume we're going to move onto the next gym soon?" he said apprehensively. 

  
  


Diana shrugged, and said, "No reason to hang around here. You did get a badge, right? You've been awfully quiet about that fight!" 

  
  


John stammered for a moment and fumbled the badge into the open, "So the whole sonic boom thing didn't work out too well," he complained, "That counter move is a fighter type, and just shook Magnemite to pieces. Butterfree's confusion attack, along with the fact she can fly and dodge a lot of the attacks, wiped out Brock. I really don't know why you didn't want one, you seem to have the Pokemon you had really well trained, considering that when Dratini saw you angry at it, she stopped."

  
  


Diana said, "I didn't just STAND there! Dratini..." 

  
  


John interrupted her, "Well, you did order it for the thunder wave at the end, but otherwise you were silent after Onix used its Bide. You walked up, Dratini froze, and I thought she was going to eat you, " Dratini huffed indignantly, but John ignored her, "She nodded a few times, and then finished off Onix. You should have heard the audience. They have to deal with a some berserkers coming off the northern mountains some times, and they're only rarely successfully tamed."

  
  


Diana waved off the compliment, "If I'd really known what I was doing, Dratini wouldn't have had to be in that situation. You are back to normal, right?" Dratini nodded, and Diana sighed, relieved. John's faith in the scientific method was offended, but it wasn't his place. Besides, Diana had proven that research didn't have everything locked down yet, anyway. Diana, ignorant of his internal thoughts, asked, "So, what should we do now?" 

  
  


John looked at her askance, "You should rest up! It's obvious that you've had a really rough day and are exhausted. Everyone agrees what was on the tapes. You mention that to them, they'll keep you here longer." Diana's expression turned grim at that. "We'll talk about plans tomorrow. You should feel happy! You're being put up at gym expense." 

  
  


Diana looked around the rather sterile room, "Great," she said, making little attempt to inject enthusiasm in her voice. "I'll probably be up before you, John, so let's meet in the cafeteria tomorrow morning! We'll need to do some more training, obviously, but I think we can win this!" 

  
  


John nodded and headed out for the night, stopping outside the closed door, he pulled out his "Guide to Kanto." to confirm what he had seen earlier. "Cerulean City," he whispered as he read out loud, "Trainers from the western regions should be careful, as Cerulean City is the third largest city on the continent, and many trainers are greatly surprised by the bustling atmosphere. Cerulean City is set on a peninsula, and several major rivers were old sources of the city's money in the days prior to the full establishment of the Pokemon League. Cerulean remembers that tradition today by being the home of the gym dedicated to water Pokemon, and the gym is built around a large series of pools. Pewter City has a long-standing rivalry with the city due to an ancient war, and so no pedestrian pathways have been built. The safest past leads through the infamous Mount Moon. Travelers are advised to bring a Pokemon with a Flash HM to see their way through the unstable floor of the tunnel." 

  
  


John had managed to download his traveling partner's medical record in the first few days of travel circumspectly. Traveling with Diana was one fascinating experience after another, and John was learning a lot. Diana had an instinctive head for tactics. John wasn't as good at innovation, but Diana had spent some time working on some ideas. He also knew she was as stubborn as a mule, and even when it had looked grim, she simply spent the time refining tactics.

  
  


All in all, watching her emotionally self-destruct due to not finding her way through the dark Rock Tunnel would be bad. It was possible they could find a Flash HM in the area. However, John hoped she could figure out a way to deal with the Cerulean gym. With her team being predominantly anti-water, it wouldn't be difficult to beat the Pokemon, but getting her INTO a gym full of water would be difficult. Diana refused to even take baths, and John seriously doubted she could swim. 

  
  


Watching Diana's dream that had gotten her to overcome her injuries die due to those injuries would NOT fit into John's goal of watching her develop. She had a very empathic style, and watching that opposed to the glimpses he had gotten of her rival could fill out a thesis. Still, John figured that was for the future. Tonight was a celebration. The first hurdle that all trainers had to pass was finished, and John headed to his sleeping area, confident that if there was a way to get around an apparently insurmountable problem, a Pokemon trainer could find it. And despite everything else, Diana had manifestly proven that was what she was.

  
  


To be continued...

  
  


Next time: John may be worried, but Diana remains unknowing of what awaits on the other side of Mount Moon. Meanwhile, the League itself starts to get more involved with the sudden resurgence of Kanto Rockets, while Gary tries to find out more about Athena and Diana's shared secrets. Meanwhile, the slopes of Mount Moon are never an easy place to get through, but Team Rocket has never been above increasing the difficulty a little. 

  
  


Author's notes.

  
  


Wai! Gym battle complete! This took a little while longer, but I"m quite happy with it as there's a lot of character development going on, both for a few of the Pokemon and the trainers. Plot development took a back seat this time, but it seemed to be worth it. Still, that's one/eight of the Gym Challenge beaten!

  
  


A minor note, but note Brad is apparently VERY good at training. John didn't know strategy, and counter ripped Magnemite apart despite its high level, and Butterfree was only barely good enough for confusion. Diana operated at the same level as Brock's, so even though she did a fairly good job tactic wise, she still got pounded. Brad beat Brock with a bug/poison type, apparently easily. 

  
  


Eiko the junior trainer got a name here, just to more match the Gold/Silver style of naming everyone. Eiko's name was chosen as I wanted something generic that stuck in the mind, and Eiko's one of the most-common girl's name in Japan, which seemed appropriate. 

  
  


Not a lot else to say, besides please review, if not publically, then please drop me a line from my e-mail address available at my stories' sub-site. I try and get back to all reviewers in some form and fashion, and I await comments.


	6. Quest for Heaven's Light!

The Trainer's Bond

  
  


byTremor3258

  
  


Quest for heaven's light!

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, in any of its myriad incarnations. This work is intended merely for fun, not profit.

  
  


***************

  
  


Pokemon and humans had lived in uneasy truce for millennia before the powerful creatures began to be domesticated, or rather, agreements began to be reached. Perhaps because of proximity to the creature's energies, or merely natural selection in action, Pokemon and some humans had the ability to understand each other far better than an observer would realize, with complicated battle strategies reduced to a few short commands. That bond between trainer and Pokemon made the team far stronger than the wild counterparts, and the indications of strength that could be attained started more and more Pokemon to seek human attachment. 

  
  


The rule of six Pokemon was a holdover for those days, a general guideline to indicate the limit where a human could no longer truly work with all their Pokemon. The Poke ball made capturing an easier business than those days, but still, people with an empathy and bond with their Pokemon rose to the top. Most people had an empathy with one type, or a certain sort of style of Pokemon personality-wise, generally rising to be gym trainers or Leaders. Very, very few people had the affinity to work with all Pokemon and unlock their potential, and they became Masters. However, they usually were so busy with the many types of Pokemon to be unable to work on maintaining the path between humans and Pokemon, leaving the masters of type to be the leaders.

  
  


"This meeting of the Pokemon League will now come to order!" said Lance, master of dragons, and leader of the League. Dragon was the rarest affinity of all, and typically, when the trainer had mastered himself as well as Pokemon, one of the most powerful. Lance, however, was rarely called into battle now days. His skills at negotiation, as well as the other powerful trainers of the Elite Four, meant it was rarely necessary. However, those who wanted to make it to the hall of champions rarely made the mistake of underestimating him and winning the match. Despite not receiving as many challenges as he used to, Lance was still one of the greatest trainers who had ever lived, and one of Pokemon's greatest defenders.

  
  


Yet even he had to respect the combined forces that were gathered in the room before him. The room was huge, an old gym battling floor that had been converted to the League's council chambers, with walls, floor, and ceiling of black granite. Several small windows set in the walls looked out on the harsh, mountainous landscape, but the room was made far cozier by the addition of great tapestries depicting many of the world's legends, as well as statues of famous trainers from long-ago days. The center of the room was dominated by a tier of semi-circular tables, focused around a central podium, where Lance stood. Seated in the chairs was most of the League Council, including the entire Elite 4 and the Kanto Gym Leaders, as well as lesser-skilled trainers who filled most of the League's administrative roles. The group was startled from reading the compiled reports Lance had presented, and looked grimly at the Council leader.

  
  


It was difficult enough to collect a majority of the Council when things were quiet throughout the League. However, with the training season getting into full swing, Lance had to resort to bribery, and in the case of the reclusive Blaine, outright threats to get the Gym Leaders in attendance. He seriously doubted though, that any regretted coming right now.

  
  


Team Rocket had recently been found to be busy gathering Pokemon, experimenting at enhancing them, as well as outfitting them with TMs. Several trainers, operating as League 'black ops' had managed to find the creches and free the young Pokemon. Blaine had declared them fit, and then the League had worked at dispersing the Pokemon into good homes with young trainers.

  
  


However, yesterday at the Pewter City gym, one of those Pokemon, a Dratini, had gone berserk when placed on the gym's main battling ground, and could have injured the spectators, before its trainer managed to calm it down. Operating under the auspices of providing care, a quick examination had shown chemicals in the bloodstream similar to those of Rocket manipulation, that hadn't been there at its last treatment in a Pokemon Center. The Rockets latest attempt at overthrowing the League involved using the League's own young trainers to unleash their weapons.

  
  


"First, our thanks to Brock for his quick work in bringing our primary matter for this meeting to our attention," Lance began, "We thought the Rocket's latest scheme had failed with our operatives actions, but it turned out to have a second part that was far more subtle than we expected the Rockets to be capable of in their disorganized state."

  
  


"It's entirely possible," Sabrina, mistress of psychic Pokemon, interrupted, "that the Rocket's apparent chaos following the loss of Giovanni's position is actually part of his plans. Giovanni's insecurities are sufficient to ensure he continues to seek... substandard operatives, but he himself is quite cunning and dangerous," she finished smoothly, though Lance knew that Sabrina's training ensured that she would not act surprised if the Legendaries dropped by for a snack. 

  
  


"They have fallen quite far from their strength at their take-over of Saffron, Gym Leader," Lance said calmly, "But events have shown we should evaluate the situation. Team Rocket's assault on Cinnabar was impressive in size, and the fact they managed to continue their normal operations indicates that not only have we underestimated their size, but Giovanni is willing to let us know that he has a great deal in reserve." 

  
  


Karen, current master of dark and ghostly Pokemon, said, "I believe that Giovanni's willingness to reveal his reserves indicates that this latest plan was not a fluke. The Dratini, according to Professor Oak himself, acted completely like a normal Pokemon of its level, albeit a rather well-trained one. Obviously he has found a way to bury indoctrination far deeper than we thought possible." 

  
  


Blaine continued, "Not only that, but these Pokemon have been trained to use their sensitivity to detect the latent power within the gyms themselves. Giovanni is evidently hoping that the young trainers will lose faith in our teachings and make it easier for him to manipulate them to his standard, or possibly destruction of the gyms." 

  
  


Janine, recently appointed to head of the Fuchsia gym, asked, "Perhaps an attempt at assassination. A sudden poison attack..." she trailed off, inviting comment, but the room was silent for a moment.

  
  


Bruno, former head of the Pewter gym, grunted, "If any of US get caught by a low-level attack like that, we deserve it." Koga, former Fuchsia leader, ninja, and master of poison Pokemon, nodded in agreement.

  
  


"Perhaps we should get to a more critical issue," Lance said, cutting through the bourgeoning discussion, "Is there some way we can counter this without relying on a trainer's sheer presence, and, naturally, without putting down any Pokemon?" 

  
  


Gary, another recent gym leader, commented, "Psychic Pokemon might be able to mimic the gyms and test the various Pokemon for reactions. I've also seen reactions similar to this before on my training journey. It could be some sort of surgically-implanted, one-time use capsule. A deeper scan than usual at the Pokemon Centers may be able to find it. Team Rocket also might have records."

  
  


Lance shook his head at the implicit suggestion to launch attacks, "I'm unwilling to plunge the world into a guerrilla war, Gary Oak. We keep those bases intact to have better track on Team Rocket's activities. And recent events have shown that we do not have the intelligence we should have. Giovanni could be gambling with the numbers he has, but if he is not, I doubt we could mobilize forces quickly enough if we pulled out of our usual defensive posture."

  
  


"A raid then. In and out for the information," compromised Gary, "I believe we could probably gather a group not directly affiliated with us from our trainer records. For one thing, children have a remarkably good record at that sort of thing," he smirked. Gary had pulled off some astonishing one-man army wins against Team Rocket in his day. Nothing compared to the current League Champion, but still impressive. 

  
  


Lance nodded, "Agreed." The dragon master gave a rare smile, "Now, with that business ready to be taken care of, we can't start talking about reassignments of gym resources with the new threats..." Lance continued on, the Council taking notes. Minutia from this could end up saving hundreds of lives in the next few months.

  
  


*****************

  
  


There were several reasons why trainers preferred the Mount Moon tunnel complex, lava tubes created by an ancient meteorite strike, than finding their way over the mountain's foothills. Though the primary reason was that the tunnel path was a bit shorter, there were plenty of little things. The tunnel terrain was better than slogging through foothills, and there was typically enough of a pressure difference to create a gentle breeze, plenty for the wary trainer to continue in the correct general direction, despite generally bad Pokegear reception within the complex. As time went by, the smallest village to Mount Moon even built a Pokemon center next to the tunnel entrance. However, the reason trainers said they were in the area was that many of the extremely strong rock and ground types of Pokemon made their homes within Mount Moon, and it was relatively simple to stumble across a potential powerhouse. 

  
  


However, many trainers didn't realize that Mount Moon's slopes were, in many ways, a better training ground than the tunnels, even if the slopes were mainly bereft of Pokemon. The constant wind, chilly temperatures, dry air, and high elevation combined to give quite a workout. 

  
  


"So, really, I don't think it's a good idea for you to go up there, Diana," John said for the third time, "It's not quite safe. It wouldn't be THAT hard to wait a while longer," he urged. 

  
  


Diana shrugged and said, slightly bitterly, "Nice of you to keep track of your research project's health, huh?" The two were standing in the tiny hamlet by the Mount Moon Pokemon Center. John, despite having a variety of Pokemon with the capability, lacked Pokemon with the Flash technique. More involved in research than training, he'd neglected to hunt down a Flash HM in southern Kanto. The two had been busy training in the area, while on the lookout, but it didn't seem any HMs were available currently. Diana, not wanting to lose more time, was willing to try the moderately safe option of walking over the mountain.

  
  


John blinked in surprise at the sudden acid, "What does that mean?" 

  
  


Diana rolled her eyes, "We've spent almost a week in this area, and every hour or so, you come up with some other way to try and ask me what I did to calm Dratini. I really don't know, and I'm just glad it worked for Dratini's sake, and I'm glad she got the badge for me." Diana paused, and said in a confused tone, though smiling slightly, "Come to think of it, I've been the one busy working on training, you haven't been doing a lot more than talking with your Meowth, and having your Butterfree fly around a lot."

  
  


John smiled, and proclaimed, "To the average observer, I suppose it wouldn't look like much. But, if we run into a trainer today, you'll see what I managed to learn from reading some magazines when you were stuck in the hospital. My team's been with me long enough to get pretty high-level, but considering my Magnemite lost to a reasonably wimpy Geodude, they really need some battle practice, so we have come up with some strategies that will ensure I continue to get badges and gather data on the trainer experience." John started to strike poses that were probably meant to be martial-art katas. 

  
  


Diana smiled, though mainly on the outside. Diana had been traveling alongside John, taking advantage of some human company and his extensive knowledge of Pokemon and regional data, in exchange for a few tips she'd picked up in Pallet Town. However, she'd found it relatively easy to refocus his attention away from her when she needed privacy. Though the constant questions were annoying, his incredulity at her controlling the battle field so well in her first match back in Pewter City hurt a bit. 

Diana had considered her sister's success, and from her sister's ability to quickly find, isolate, and take out targets in the midst of a large battle, Diana had decided she probably had at least a degree of that talent. Though the greatest Pokemon trainers had surprisingly few common traits, a very good sense of the battle field and how to use it was one of them. Putting together the various factors so quickly really couldn't be taught, as it was really more of just how you handled information. 

  
  


Diana realized John had stopped talking, and was looking at her expectantly. Diana rewound the last minute of conversation back in her head, and asked, "Well, you have been busy working these last few days, and your Pokemon are still stronger than mine, so you shouldn't have as much problems as I've been having." Diana winced in remembrance. Out of six battles in the last few days, she'd done fairly well, with five wins and a loss, but two of the wins had been frighteningly close.

  
  


Still, she was happier being out making a destiny, and her Pokemon were much happier to have the chance to stretch somewhat. John would note that their levels had been rising much faster out here on the road, but Diana was also able to devote more attention to her friends journeying than she had back home. With another wave of frustration coming over her, Diana started walking towards the edge of town. 

  
  


John started walking beside her, "You're not going to be talked out of heading up Mount Moon?" 

  
  


"Well," Diana admitted, "Heading through Mount Moon would be better, but I suppose I could do that later after I can find a Flash HM somewhere." Diana winced in remembrance, "Though I'm not sure how well Dratini will take rock Pokemon in close proximity after that scare. But I definitely don't want to sit here and wait for a spare Flash HM to show up." 

  
  


John was silent for a moment on the walk through the town, and then sighed, "Very well. There will be Pokemon on the slopes, I suppose. And I don't want to get concussed by heading through Mount Moon without a light." 

  
  


Diana said, sounding overly cheerful, "That's the spirit, well... sort of. Anyway, there are probably more Pokemon up top with trainers working their way through the tunnels all the time."

  
  


John smiled suddenly, realization striking, "Hey, it's only a week after the season opened. Half the local legends are a result of the northern ranges, so who knows what might wander down to Mount Moon once in a while. People have seen Zapdos up there." John started to jog, shouting, "What are you waiting for? Time's a-wasting!" 

  
  


"Then again," Diana mused, "Maybe I don't understand him." The young trainer continued on steadily. She was eager to get on her way, but not eager enough to injure herself.

  
  


***************

  
  


Mount Moon's slopes were a mix of boulders from ancient rockslides and trees struggling in the harsh climate. Erosion was getting a bit of a boost today, however. Brad, training his Beedrill and Sandshrew, was suddenly enveloped in a dust cloud, dropping them all into a coughing fit, as rocks skittered down among them, along with the sharp 'crack' of rock exploding. Listening, he could hear the rattling of something moving above him. "Watch it up there!" he called, annoyed, "You could bring the whole mountain down!" With another hand, he motioned Sandshrew forward. Sandshrew chittered and raised its claws, ready for combat. The work of the day was to get around the whole problem of the dim caves... so at least the sand meant he didn't have to spend time scuffing with the dirt rather than claw jabs.

  
  


The rattling ceased, revealing an elderly looking gentlemen wearing khaki-colored safari clothes. Pushing his glasses up the nose, the man exclaimed, "Oh, goodness gracious me! I was unaware anyone else was in the area. I do apologize young man. My Kadabra and I were preparing for the journey ahead." The psychic Pokemon, looking contrite, popped its head into view.

  
  


Brad shrugged, claiming, "It's not a big deal, I just hate having my vision cut off like that." Brad stared at the Kadabra, "It looks pretty healthy, so the weather won't bother it, and there's not much that can stop a psychic Pokemon in this area above or below ground." 

  
  


The man looked confused for a moment, and then burst out laughing. Removing his glasses, he wiped at the tears of laughter running down his face. As the fit passed, the older man nearly broke out again at seeing Brad's angry expression. Holding up a hand, and gasping for air, he quickly explained, "Lad... this Pokemon was originally trained as a circus performer. He has some excellent juggling tricks, but he lacks the raw offensive power typical of his species. It's nothing that important, really." The Kadabra, looking abashed, hung its head. The man turned around to get back to work.

  
  


"Too late for that excuse," Brad muttered, "If it's capable of smashing rocks into dust after card tricks most of its life, then there's some great techniques up there!" Brad bent down to conspire with his Pokemon, who leaned in slightly. "Let's check it out guys. That's the sort of attack that would fit right in with our strategies! If nothing else, he can't refuse a Pokemon battle and I can see it there, and I bet WE can block it." The Pokemon nodded in agreement. All four of Brad's Pokemon worked well with quick, devastating attacks, and were worked heavily for defense.. Brad recalled Sandshrew before turning to Beedrill.

  
  


"Beedrill, head on up and start watching the training!" he commanded. Beedrill buzzed uncertainly, and Brad said, slightly irritated, "I know I can't understand everything. Yet. But gestures should do it for training right?" Beedrill buzzed more happily and shot up the slope, as Brad began climbing the ridge, teeth bared slightly in anger. Diana's little episode with the Dratini was disturbing his Pokemon, and he'd seen a few sidelong glances. First place WAS the only place to be in the training game, and they understood that, but they did wonder. Brad couldn't blame them. Diana had some ideas that didn't mesh with training, but he envied that sort of rapport.

  
  


"Hey, what the? Get out of the way!" shouted the old man frantically, counter scored by Beedrill's usual buzzing becoming more angry. Brad hauled himself up faster. Beedrills were hive creatures, and that close proximity of minds made them easy bait for mental attacks. 

  
  


"I hope she didn't just wander into the middle of whatever he's doing," Brad prayed momentarily as he got to the top. Cresting the ridge, Brad sighed with relief to see Beedrill was intact, and was actually away from the pitted portion of Earth, instead hovering several feet behind an irritated looking older man and a Kadabra, which waved its spoons about menacingly. 

  
  


"Wait a sec..." Brad said, eyes narrowing, "Beedrill's just there... and they haven't launched any more of the attacks." More loudly, Brad poured on the charm, "Sir. Are you all right? I'm sorry if my Beedrill frightened you." Brad detected a slight grin on the man's face, but continued smoothly, "She doesn't mean you any harm," he insisted, "We were interested in your training. Judging by all that shrapnel, you've been doing an excellent job, and we wanted to observe." 

  
  


"Not easily dissuaded, are you boy?" the old man said, still sounding angry. Then he sighed, and looked him over. "Well.. I suppose I could use your help," he said, and gestured towards the devastated area. Beedrill and Brad moved forward a few steps, alongside the other trainer and Pokemon pair. 

  
  


Brad whistled when the target area came into view... softly glowing blue veins of metal were clearly visible in the cracks leading from the crater that psychically charging the rocks had created, though the ground seemed broken up a bit even inside the crater, oddly. "I've seen that in science class," Brad explained to Beedrill's curious buzz, "That what goes into Pokedex memory banks.. and the engrams that store the techniques inside a TM. Except I didn't think any of it still existed in Johto.. and this stuff is almost refined." Brad looked over at the man and smiled cheerily, "That Kadabra must be really powerful to hone in on a load like this... you're sure to get some commendation and probably a finder's fee from the Pokemon League for finding this." 

  
  


Brad later swore the air temperature dropped several degrees as the man spoke again. "What are you talking about, by a finder's fee?" the old man said, biting off each word.

  
  


Brad looked over, feeling a little confused. "Oh, relax sir, I don't want any part of that. I'm far more interested in that technique!" Brad said, excited now, "Honing in on such a valuable location, with some difference in power, could open up all sorts of abilities. But for a finder's fee... I mean, only the Pokemon League has the resources to be able to handle this sort of material on any large scale for refining, from what I've heard. There's more in one of those cracks than even a dozen TMs could use. And the masters of the Hidden Techniques use a different system."

  
  


The old man shook his head... "Stubborn, ignorant, and loyal to the League, a three-fold death sentence. Kadabra!" The Pokemon growled, holding forward its spoons and letting loose a flare of light. Brad brought his hands up to guard his eyes, yelling in surprise. Beedrill buzzed angrily as compound retinas went white from overload.

  
  


"Beedrill... cover fire with pin missiles!" Brad snapped after a futile moment trying to clear the afterimages from his eyes. Beedrill made a quick coughing sound as dozens of small needles spat from its mouth toward the former positions of the opponents. Brad hoped it would at least buy time for his vision to clear.

  
  


But when the spots faded from his eyes... the ground was littered with spent needles... however the Kadabra and his trainer were completely unmarked... despite being in the same position as before the flash. "Oh come on! We did not miss a circus animal!" he exclaimed, hoping Luck would at least listen. Beedrill buzzed angrily in denial of its miss.

  
  


"Sideshow attractions can be more dangerous than they seem," the man said smugly, "Carnivals often comes with fireworks, as it were... and you pick something up. But you've shown some more spunk than I figured from a kid... so let's make it a match rather going straight for the throat, hmm?"

  
  


Brad grinned, "All right.. I've got some surprises on my own... and I'd much rather do that than injure one of you two permanently..." Beedrill folded its stingers and nodded in determination.

  
  


*Besides,* he thought, *Another user of cheap tricks... this couldn't be better.. especially since it's time to save the day." Brad grinned... "All right... choose your Pokemon, and let the match begin!"

  
  


To be continued.

  
  
  
  


Author's Notes... A year... yikes. Um... nothing much to say to that. The first half (the political situation) was much easier to write than the road block, which has been slow going... I was going to include this big battle sequence, but I figured I had a chapter right here and could save it for next time.... 

  
  


Sorry to my readers. All craftsmanship takes work, but I admit this was ridiculous. 


End file.
